


Pictures of Us

by Goobergobbledoc



Series: Nickname [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Anxiety, Asahi is in Culinary School, Complete, Cute, Daichi Sawamura's Thighs, Eventual Smut, Explicit Only in the Later Chapters, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Kuroo Is a Good Wingman, Love Confessions, Meet-Cute, Mentioned Parents Death, Minor Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Mrs Sawamura | Daichi's Mother, Mutual Pining, Older Characters, Past Relationship(s), Police Academy, Reader Has A Nickname | Bambi, Reader Saves a Puppy, Reader Was Cheated On in Past Relationship, Reader-Insert, Romantic Comedy, Self-Insert, Slow Burn, Suga Is a Good Wingman, Teacher Sugawara Koushi, Tension, Volleyball Dorks in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:55:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 82,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23857942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goobergobbledoc/pseuds/Goobergobbledoc
Summary: Reader moves to the city to join the police academy. Whilst out for a run, reader bumps into Daichi Sawamura and things get cute. Bumping in to each other again at the academy, they become good friends and begin to develop feelings for each other.Photos at significant moments in their friendship are taken by Daichi’s housemate and long term best friend Koushi Sugawara, in order to convince the couple to confess their love. Will these photos show them that Reader and Daichi are actually meant to be together? Or will Reader's past catch up with her and ruin her chance to find love with her new best friend.I hope you guys like a slow burn ;)I don't own the Haikyuu characters but the plot and idea of this story was written by me!-Goobergobbledoc
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Reader
Series: Nickname [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800190
Comments: 220
Kudos: 109





	1. Meet Cute

Chapter One: Meet Cute 

  


Y/N just moved to the city. She’d been there a few times when she was younger as her parents would take her on trips to visit the place where they met. After her parents passed-away, the city had too many bitter sweet memories for her to return. Her parents were married in the city and bought their first apartment together in a nice neighbourhood. Prior to Y/N’s birth, they moved to the country side for a quieter life, though they held onto that apartment to rent out for extra income. 

Y/N was living in the country side at the time of her parent’s car accident and recovered from her loss as best she could, thanks to the kindness of the police in the town. She was only 17 years old when they died and one of the police officers assigned to the case was kind enough to take her in so that she could stay in town and finish school.  
Police officer Sora knew that being grounded in her hometown was the best for her recovery. To be surrounded by the people and places she knew. 

After graduation, Y/N left for university, though she still kept in touch with Sora almost every day. Sora was the closest person she had to family. Without the help of Sora, Y/N would have been put into foster care since she didn’t have any other relatives. Y/N was greatly affected by the kindness of Sora and made a promise to herself to help others how she had been helped. Which is why that now, after finishing university, she enrolled in the police academy. 

Since she already had a science degree, her course at the academy should only take 6 months instead of the 10 months it would take for high school graduates. Going to university definitely postponed her dream of joining the police by a couple of years, but it was worth it. Her parents always said their time at university was where they discovered themselves and made lifelong friends. Y/N had made some friends, even had a boyfriend, but they certainty were lifelong.  
Starting Monday, the academy will dive straight into classes in subjects such as martial arts and law. In preparation for all the exercise she would surly have to complete, she thought she would go for a run around the neighbourhood. She put on her work-out clothes, a light waterproof jacket and her sneakers before she set out. 

Since it had been quite some time that she had been in this area, she really took in all her surroundings. Things always seem to move faster in the city and it seems to reinvent itself every few years. Even her parent’s apartment had been renovated since they last lived there.It was cloudy and started sprinkling when she had left her place, though she never minded the rain. She actually loved the smell of the rain, especially during a run. It made her feel calm and alive. But now, as she was coming up to a path near a fenced off water drainage site, she could hear a whining sound. Sticking true to her helpful nature, she stopped in her path to look where the noise what coming from so that she could help whoever (or whatever) was making that sad noise. 

**BAM!**

Due to Y/N’s sudden stopping in her tracks, the person who was running behind her slammed straight into her, causing them both to topple over. It happened pretty fast and the collision was unavoidable. Y/N hadn't even seen it coming. She landed on her side and grazed her elbow whilst the other person fell backwards. 

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to stop so suddenly I just heard this noise and I just had to stop. Please forgive me!” Y/N begged, now bowing to the person she had inadvertently knocked over. 

To her surprise she heard a soft chuckle in response to her apology. So she lifted her head to see the person she knocked over now getting up and offering her a hand. He was a man roughly her age with short dark brown hair, chocolate coloured eyes and a sturdy build. He wore running shorts that showed strong thighs for days, and a white t-shirt covered with a black unzipped jacket. It’s no wonder she got knocked down with such force because he’s got some muscle on him. 

He wore a kind smile and said, “It’s quite alright. Let me help you up.” She took his hand and got to her feet. “I wasn’t watching where I was going anyway so it’s also my kind of fault. Hey you grazed your elbow there. Are you okay? Does it hurt?” 

“Huh?” Y/N replied, a confused look on her face. With the adrenaline of the run, the fall and the gorgeous man, she didn’t notice the graze at all. “Oh, would you look at that.” She chuffed, now twisting her right arm to look at her torn jacket and lightly bloody elbow. “I didn’t even notice. I’m okay I promise.” She smiled back brightly, returning her arm to her side. 

They continued to smile at each other for a few more moments before Y/N heard that whining, sad sound again. She turned towards fence she was next to, separating them from the water drainage site below. Looking over she saw a little yellow haired puppy, sulking on the concrete; obviously stuck in the large water collection area. This water drainage site was the path the water took from the roads into the sewers, so she knew it would be starting to fill up quick now that the rain had picked up during their meeting. There was already a shallow amount of water covering the concrete below and she knew that the level could rise pretty fast. She didn't even want to think what could happen to the puppy. 

Without any more thought, her body moved. She jumped the fence and skidded down the slanted sides of the concrete confines of the drainage site, giving zero thought to how she would get out. The walls of this place were a couple of meters high but the only thing she was thinking about was that puppy and how sad and alone it was. _Relatable._

She splashed through the shallow water, raced up to the puppy and cautiously raised her hand to its snout for a sniff. She knew if the puppy was too freighted, it could bite. The puppy was drenched, little paws standing in couple-inch deep water and had a blue collar around its neck. It granted a sniff of acceptance to Y/N, accompanied by a lick to her outstretched hand. Without further hesitation she ripped off her jacket and scooped up the puppy in her arms. With the puppy now wrapped in her jacket, Y/N swivelled around to find a way out of the spot she was in. 

“Over here!” Y/N heard a yell coming from above. “Get out of there before it floods!”It was the man from before calling out to her, showing her the path she should take to get out of the drain before it really started to fill up. 

As quick as she could move, she sprinted up the slanted wall, sneakers giving her just enough traction that she needed to make it to the summit. Upon reaching the top, gripping onto the fence with one hand, she passed the puppy over to the man so she could make it the rest of the way over. 

Looking back now at the drainage site, a tsunami of water washed over the previously occupied space, filling it with rushing water that had made its way off the city roads. Both Y/N and the man stared wide-eyed at the site knowing that if Y/N had reacted a few moments too late, both her and the puppy could have been washed away. 

“Oh my god. That was a close call. Oh my god! You could have been really hurt! That was risky what you did!” The man lectured as he passed the puppy back over to Y/N.  
She just blinked back at the man surprised to be hearing concern for her wellbeing coming from a total stranger. 

“Are you okay?... You saved that puppy’s life you know that.” He said softly, now realising he was being a bit too harsh to the girl in front of him. _Damn it did I just lecture a stranger. Old habits die hard I guess,_ he thought, referring back to how he would lecture his old volleyball team. 

The rain started to slow down now to barely a sprinkle. Snapping herself out of her surprise she looked down at the puppy, safe in her arms, and smiled. “It was worth it.” 

Bewildered by this girl’s bravery, he grinned at her and thought, _this girl is amazing. I can’t believe she just risked herself to save this puppy. Geesh she must be as beautiful inside as she is out._ He reached out to the puppy to give it a pat on the head. “This dog is pretty adorable I guess I can see why you jumped to save him. I’m sorry if I lectured you there. I was just kind of worried about you. Especially since you already hurt your arm. But that was really quick thinking. You did a great job.” 

Y/N returned the smile to the man and got lost in his eyes for a few moments before realising she was staring. Looking away and clearing her throat, she said, “umm yeah. My body kind of just moved. I guess I should have thought things through a bit more. I didn’t really know which way to get out. If you hadn’t of called out to me I might have been in a bit of trouble there, so thank you.” 

Okay. Now they were both beaming at each other like idiots.  
“It’s no problem.” The man replied to her. He looked down at her now sleeveless arm and saw that her elbow was actually looking pretty nasty, though she didn’t seem to care. “Hey, can you wait here for just a sec. I’ll be right back I promise.” 

“Uhhh, okay?” Y/N answered, unsure of what this stranger was doing. She watched as the man ran across the road and into a convenient store. 

After a few minutes he returned with a small paper bag in his hand. “Here let me fix that for you.” Pointing to her right elbow as he pulled out a small sachet of disinfectant and a bandage. 

“Oh, Umm, thank you. That’s really nice of you. You really didn’t have to do that.”Whilst still holding on to the wriggly puppy, she offered her elbow to the man for him to patch up. 

“Can I ask you name?” He said as he gently wiped the disinfectant over the graze.  
Wincing at the sting, Y/N responded with her name though gritted teeth.  
Mumbling a quiet apology, the man then tried to bandage up the elbow. This proved difficult due to the puppy wriggling around in Y/N’s arms.  
Whilst giggling at the puppy’s actions, she asked the man’s name in return. 

“My name is Daichi Sawamura. It’s a really nice to meet you.” He beamed as he finished up with Y/N’s arm. “Does this little one have a name on his collar? It’s probably lost.” 

“Oh yeah I had a look while you were gone. The name tag reads Spot, which is pretty weird because I’m pretty sure it’s a Labrador. So no spots to be found. Ironic I guess. But the tag also does have a phone number. Umm, I was wondering if you might have a phone or something to call it. My phone seems to have run out of battery.” She responded sheepishly. 

“Oh! Yeah sure! Of course. Um could you read out the number for me?” 

After typing in the number, Daichi had a small conversation with the person on the other end of the line and received an address. After typing in his phone for a bit, he looked back up at Y/N and said, “the address for the owner is just around the corner from here and they said they are home now. Did you want to go with me to return Spot?” 

“Yes please! I want to spend more time with this good pup! So cuuute!” She cooed. 

“Okay great! Lets’ go shall we.” 

“Lets! Lead the way, Daichi!” 

Next chapter. The First Picture. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 08.06.2020  
> -Fixed Typos and formatting. I dunno why it keeps being weird!!!!  
> -Goobergobbledoc


	2. The First Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi and Y/N go to return the Puppy and get to know each other

Chapter Two: The First Picture.

Making their way towards the Spot’s house, Daichi and Y/N strike up a conversation about all sorts of things. Y/N, who is ecstatic to be still carrying the puppy, talked about how she wanted to be a vet when she was a kid because she wasn’t allowed any pets growing up and about how she would have loved to have had a cat or dog.

“How come you weren’t allowed a pet?” Daichi asked trying to continue on the conversation and to get to know more about Y/N.

“Uhhh well my Mum was allergic to dogs and my Dad was allergic to cats. So together the household wasn’t really suited to being home for a sweet thing like this pup here.” she replied holding up the puppy at eye level and giving it a smooch on its drying fur. 

“Plegh. Plegh. Eghhh,” she spat. “I should not have kiss this dog. It’s all dirty from the drain water. I really didn’t think this through.”  
Daichi couldn’t help but laugh at her antics and appreciate the way her nose wrinkled when she pulled that face. _This girl has got to be the cutest thing on the planet. Even cuter than the puppy._

Wiping her mouth on her arm she continued the conversation, glad that Daichi didn’t pick up on how she used the past tense when talking about her parents.   
“So Daichi, did you get to have any pets growing up?”

Realising he was staring like a goof at Y/N he snapped his head forwards again and cleared his throat.   
“Uh yeah. I had a cat. He was, still is actually, a huge jerk. But that’s probably because my younger siblings would torment him. Not in a tragic way!” He corrected himself noticing the look on Y/N’s face at his previous statement. “They were just pretty young and sometimes got a bit excitable with the cat. He was quick to shut them down though. I had to patch up quite a few cuts and scratches. I’m an expert at that now you see.” He said pointing to Y/N’s elbow.

“I could tell. I knew you were when I felt the burn of at alcohol. Just like the real pros do.” She fake-winced and then laughed.

He pouted but she was quick to tell him that she was joking. “Thank you though. You did a great job with my elbow. I can be a bit of a klutz sometimes, though if anyone asks you I will deny it. I am a capable lady!”

Daichi’s laughing again. _This girl as funny as she is beautiful. I want to keep talking to her. I’ll need to start working up the courage to ask for her number._

“So you live in the area then I guess?” He asked while giving Spot a pat on the head.

“Ummmm..” she looked at him with a sideways glance trying to decide if it was safe enough to tell this stranger that she did in fact live not that far away.

“Oh no. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean…. I’m not going to stalk you! I’m just making conversation.” He blurted out worriedly. “It’s just that I go running along that path all the time and I haven’t seen you before.”

“HA! It’s okay Daichi. I’m pretty sure you’re not going to murder me. I just moved into the area. I’ve been around here a few times before but things just change so fast in the city its crazy. Sometimes I get a little lost, especially when my frikkin phone dies on me.”

“Oh cool. Where did you come from then?”  
“Just some small boring town in the country. Nothing fancy” she said while holding the puppy like a baby and giving it a belly rub over the jacket it was still wrapped in. The water had started to soak through her jacket and she knew she would have to wash it as soon as she got home, lest she smell like wet dog; but it helped dry off the puppy to some extent, so it was worth it.

“Me too! Well I’ve been here since university but I’m from Miyagi, so I know about small towns.” He enthused.

“Well I guess we have that in common then.” Y/N smiled at him.

“Yeah I guess we do.” He smiled back. To avoid the inevitable blush that would come from looking directly into her beautiful eyes, he redirected his gaze back to the map on his phone to ensure they were going in the correct direction. 

“You’re lucky to get a place around this neighbourhood at the moment though. It’s pretty hard to come by anywhere decent. I ended up just moving in with some guys I knew back in high school. One of the guy’s parents owns the apartment and they had a spare room so...”

“Oh Yeah? That’s pretty cool you’re with your friends. My parents used to own the apartment I’m in now. So that’s why I’m so lucky to get to be in this neighbourhood.”

“Used to? They don’t own it anymore?”  
“Oh… um… I inherited it. They passed-away.” Y/N said holding the puppy just a little closer to her chest for comfort.

“Oh Y/N, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. Geez I keep sticking my foot in my mouth don’t I? You probably think I’m a real jerk now.” He said sheepishly.

“It’s perfectly alright Daichi. I was in high school at the time, so it was a while ago.” She assured him. “The apartment was actually the place my parents bought when they got married. Though they later moved to the country to start a family. However, sadly, no pets. No cheeky younger brother and sister either. Though that would have been nice.” 

“So it’s just you then? Or you lived with an aunt or uncle?” 

“Ah no. Just me. I mean I wasn’t alone or anything. I ended up living with someone really nice. Sora is pretty much family by now. So don’t feel bad. I’m all good” she laughed so as to lighten the mood.  
Daichi just nodded, deciding it better to just say nothing and avoid making things worse. She appeared on the surface to be fine with the sad topic of conversation, but he way she was hugging the puppy provoked the idea that she was putting on a brave face just to be nice.

As they turned a corner onto another street, Y/N picked up the conversation again.  
“So Daichi?”  
“Hmm?”  
“That jacket.” She pointed towards his black jacket with _Karasuno High School Volleyball Club_ printed on the back.

“Oh god. You’re cold! You want to wear my jacket! So rude of my not to offer I’m sorry!” Daichi blurted out whilst struggling to remove his jacket which then caught on his muscular forearms where it had previously been rolled up.

“No, no, no, no Daichi! Stop! I’m fine really. I’m not cold! I just wanted to ask if you played volleyball!”

“Oh” He stopped struggling with the jacket and looked down at it, momentarily forgetting which one he was wearing. “Yeah, I did. Through high school and a little bit in university. Though this one’s my high school jacket. I guess I’m just fonder of this one.” He chuckled. “Made some good friends on that team. Are you sure you’re not cold?”

Rolling her eyes at that last question which she chose to ignore, she continued the conversation, “What position to do you play?”

“You know much about volleyball?”

“Oh please. Daichi,” she paused raising her hand to dismiss his doubts. “Don’t be fooled because of my height. I was the star libero of my team. Would have been captain too if there wasn’t that stupid rule that….”

“Libero’s can’t be captains.” They finished the sentence in unison and grinned at each other.

Daichi chuckled “that makes perfect sense.”  
“What does?”  
“You as the libero,” he stated.

“How so?”

“Well you seem to be well acquainted with the floor which is good for a libero so they can dig the ball up.”

Y/N is now laughing so hard at Daichi’s joke, that the sound and vibrations from her chest caused the puppy to bark playfully at them both. “Seems you already know me pretty well Daichi. You’ve got me pegged.”

“So it seems,” he replies with a smile that grew fonder the more they conversed.

“So?” Y/N prompted again, “What position did you play then?”

“Well I actually _was_ captain.” He winked at her “But I’m a wing spiker. Though I’ve known to be a decent receiver so I could cover for the libero if needed.”

“Oooof Daichi. Got skills do ya?” Y/N teased and nudged him with her good elbow.

“Well we did make it to the spring nationals so yeah I guess. But I did spend most of my time just lecturing my team mates. They were pretty … how should I put it… _enthusiastic_.”

“AHAHA yeah I can totally see you doing that. You make them sound troublesome!”

“They were troublesome!” he countered.

During the natural pause in conversation, Daichi checked the map on his phone once more. “It’s the house just over there.” 

“The one with the pink mailbox? How cute!” Y/N cooed.

“Wait before we go in let me take a picture of the puppy. It’s pretty cute and my housemates won’t believe me. _Pics or it didn’t happen_ they say.”

“Yeah sure! Spot’s totally a cutie!” she said as she held up the puppy to display it’s ultimate cuteness.  
“Umm, you don’t mind if you’re in the picture a bit do you?” Daichi asked.

“Oh no that’s fine! I don’t mind at all. Thanks for asking though, that’s sweet of you.” She responded. “Alright Spot. Don’t out cute me, okay?”

“A puppy out cute you? Never.” Daichi complimented.

**CLICK.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to delete and repost this chapter because of a glitch.


	3. Nearly Neighbours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Puppy returned, Daichi walks Y/N home.

Chapter Three: Nearly Neighbours.

Pleased with the picture he took, Daichi was about to ask Y/N if she wanted a copy of it. _A perfect excuse to ask for her number. I’ll text it to her._ He thought.  
But he hesitated, and in that moment Y/N had skipped ahead of him, walking down the front path of the house with the pink mail box.  
_Damn, I missed my chance._

Y/N stopped at the front door and waited for Daichi to catch up. He joins her by the door and flashes her his best smile before ringing the bell.  
While waiting for someone to answer the door, the puppy started wriggling a lot in Y/N’s arms. Daichi had to step in and help, lest she drop the wriggly pup right as they were about to return it to their owner. 

Unwrapping the jacket that Spot was in, Daichi picked the pup out of Y/N’s arms, unintentionally grazing her hand.

Instinctively, Y/N blushed at the warming contact, which thankfully went un-noticed by Daichi as his attention was on the small boy who answered the door.

“SPOTTT!!!!” the boy screamed. “mUmMmm!!! Spot is backkkk!”  
Someone who appeared to be the boys irritated Mother, walked towards the front door and swiftly scolded the boy for rudely snatching the pup out of Daichi’s arms without giving thanks.  
The boy then bowed to his visitors and exclaimed, “thank you for bringing me Spot!”  
Not giving Daichi and Y/N the chance to respond, he ran back inside to no doubt play around with the small dog.

“Sorry about that,” said the boy’s mother. “Thank you so much for everything! Where did you find Spot? We tried searching the streets and asking the neighbours but we had no luck.”

“It’s no trouble at all. Happy to help” Y/N replied “We found him in a water drainage site not far from here. The poor thing got wet from the rain and a little dirty from the drain water so he might need a bath.” She continued whilst fiddling with her jacket.

“Y/N here actually heard Spot crying and jumped down into the drain to rescue him. It was a close call too. It was raining pretty hard. Lucky Y/N was there.” Daichi praised. “Poor Spot could have been washed away.”

“Oh my goodness! That was so dangerous! You could have been hurt! Those drains catch a lot of water. Oh and you’re both all wet now too! Please come in and I will make you some tea. I would like to give you a reward t….”

“Oh no that’s not necessary. Thank you though. Truly just happy to help. Plus, I got to cuddle with a puppy so I’m all good. I really should be going now though. It’s getting a bit late.” Y/N explained, wrapping her dirty dog jacket around her waist.  
Daichi just turned his head and smiled at her, appreciating her kindness towards the obviously stressed mother in the doorway.

“Oh I’m sorry Daichi. I didn’t mean to speak for you too! I just…”  
“No, you’re perfect. We should be going now though.” Daichi said as he turned back towards the other woman. “You have a nice night, okay? Tell Spot we said goodbye.”

“Byeeeeee Spottt” Y/N called out before bowing slightly to the woman and walking away with Daichi.

“Goodbye Daichi and Y/N! Thanks again!!” the woman called out after them, waving farewell before she closed the door.

The couple started walking back the way they came from.  
“Well that was a happy ending wasn’t it Daichi! Although that kid seemed a bit of a handful. I can’t help but think that Spot ran away to find some peace.” 

“Haha. I know what you mean. He actually reminded me of my younger siblings getting over-excited by the family cat.”

“Poor pets! They have it so rough, being pampered, fed and played with all day.” Y/N laughed.  
Daichi couldn’t help but smile fondly at Y/N in response.

“Hey Daichi?” Y/N asked, looking around at the street signs.  
“Yeah?”  
“I think you’ll have to lead me back the way we came because I was a little distracted and now I don’t remember the way.” 

“Sure thing Y/N. It’s no problem. I could tell you were a little pre-occupied with Spot.” He laughed. I guess we came from the same direction before, so I can walk you home if you like. It is getting pretty late.”

“Oh thanks, Daichi! So sweet of you to offer,” she said while touching his arm lightly. “Although, I don’t want to put you out. As you said its getting late and sure you have better places to be.”

“It’s really no trouble at all Y/N. Plus we must live near each other anyway. What kind of a gentleman would I be if I just let a pretty girl walk home alone at night knowing she doesn’t have a working phone? I’d be a monster!” He explained.

Blushing at his comment about her being pretty, Y/N nodded. “If you insist, lead the way again, Daichi!”

Their small talk continued as they walked the short distance back to Y/N’s apartment building. Once out the front, Y/N started rubbing her arms to warm herself. The rain had stopped but her clothes were still damp, so along with the breeze, it was getting pretty cold. “Well this is me. It’s getting kind of chilly now so I better get inside.” She smiled up at Daichi who was still working up the courage to ask her for her number.  
“Thanks for everything. Really. For fixing my arm. Helping me with Spot. Walking me home. You’re a very sweet guy.” She continued, touching his arm again affectionately for the second time on their journey home.

Daichi seemed taken aback by the flirty touch and fumbled with his words. “Um.. yeah.. umm... _Shit. What was I going to say? How was I going to ask for her number? I forgot!_ He panicked. “It was really no problem. I actually live right down there so….”  
_Ask her  
Ask her!_  
…..

“Well were basically neighbours then. So I’ll see you around.” Y/N said, saving Daichi from his fumbling words. “Have a lovely night!” She waved and entered the apartment building. Leaving Daichi alone to kick himself for chickening out.

~Inside Y/N’s Apartment. ~

Kicking off her shoes at the front door, her mind wandered over the events that happened over her past hour or so. Meeting Daichi was definitely a highlight of her day. Even if she did graze her elbow, which was now starting to sting a bit considering she didn’t have an attractive man and his conversation to take her mind off it.

 _I thought he was going to at least ask for my number or something. Especially when he took that photo. He must of actually just wanted to show his housemates the puppy._ Y/N thought as she moved towards the bedroom to plug her phone in to charge. _I touched his arm twice. If that didn’t hint to him that I was interested… well, I guess he just wasn’t interested in me. Go figure. A guy like that is wayyy out of my league._

Y/N had to struggle with charger for a bit before it started to work. Her charger is so old and dodgy that it had to be plugged in and placed in a specific way, and rest at certain angle for it to actually work. _You’d think that the greedy phone companies would be have enough money to make a charger whose chord doesn’t fray and die after a little bit of use. Damn companies trying to get me to buy more chargers. Not today, tricksters! Not today!_

Phone finally charging, she set off to shower, and make dinner. Only coming back to her phone after getting ready for bed. The last thing Y/N did that night, before dreaming about Daichi, was to send a long text to Sora, telling them about her day.

~Inside Daichi’s Apartment. ~

“I’m home!” Daichi called out as he walked into the apartment after taking off his shoes by the front door.

“We’re in the kitchen!” his housemate called out to him from around the corner.

“Mmmmm smells good! Asahi, what are you cooking?” Daichi spoke as he approached the very tall man with the brown man-bun and a goatee who was standing over the stove.  
Azumane Asahi is in culinary school and often comes home with new recipes to practice and master. Lucky for his housemates, they often get away with not having to cook.

“I’m making something new tonight. It might not be very good, sorry. I’ve never tried this before.”

“Well whatever it is that your making Asahi, it smells great. You really have a heart of glass, don’t you? Just believe in yourself a little more, okay?”

“He’s right, Asahi.” Agreed the softly spoken man with silvery grey hair; who was sitting on a bar stool on the other side of the kitchen island. “You need to have more confidence in yourself.”

“Awww come on Suga not you too!” Complained Asahi.

Koushi Sugawara is an elementary school teacher who is slightly shorter and skinnier than Daichi, and has a beauty mark below his left eye. His parents are the ones who own the apartment. He rents it off them for cheap, made even cheaper by having his best-friends/housemates also contribute.

“I’m nearly done though Daichi so you might wanna have a shower now.” Asahi commented.

“Yeah man. You kind of smell like old wet laundry.”

“Ahhhh no! I smell bad! I didn’t think about that!” Daichi cried, running his hands down his face in horror.

“What the big deal Daichi. You just went for a run. A long one at that. You’ve been gone for ages. What do you expect? To smell like daisies?” asked Suga.

“Okay. But if I stand this far for you, am I really gross?” he asked positioning himself about a meter from Suga. The same distance that Daichi was standing next to Y/N through most of their encounter.

“Well you’re not that bad, but you also kind of smell like wet dog?”

“Damn it!”

Asahi now cutting in after putting a lid on whatever pot he has boiling. “Yeah Daichi. What the big deal? Just go have a shower.”

Looking at his concerned friends he realised that he would have to fess up his anxieties. Daichi explains, “well I was walking a girl home...”

Shocked into silence. Both Asahi and Suga mouths drop open and they turn to look at each other in awe of what they just heard.

“Well don’t act so shocked! I know I haven’t been amazing with girls since Yui, but I’m not that pathetic!” Daichi defended.

“What! We don’t think you’re pathetic. And Michimiya was a bitch that wasn’t your fault. It’s just…. How... what? Why?” Suga exclaimed.  
Suga is usually the main source of advice for Daichi and the one who hears the ins and outs of all his troubles. Asahi’s always there for him too but can be a bit too conservative with his advice sometimes, due to his glass heart and all. So it was very surprising for Suga in particular, to only just now, hear about a girl involved with Daichi.

Daichi explained his encounter with Y/N. He told his friends about the way Y/N saved the puppy and how she was brave. How she talked and joked. How pretty she was. How she also used to play volleyball in high school. It was only when Daichi finished his story that he realized he was basically just gushing about Y/N and didn’t really tell a cohesive narrative.

“Okay. So I think I understand what happened from that mess you just told us. You fell in love with a girl you met when you went out running, walked her home and didn’t get her number because you chickened out. Is that about the gist of it?” Suga asked bluntly, not holding back a single ounce of sass.

“Yep that’s pretty much it.” Daichi sighed, obviously disappointed in himself. “Oh! I did get a picture of her though!” 

“Haha good man. Pics or it didn’t happen! Though, I hope you weren’t creepy about it!” remarked Suga, who took the phone that was offered to him.

“Wow. She’s really pretty. Cute dog too.” Suga then handed the phone over to Asahi for him to look at.

“Wow. Yeah I almost didn’t believe you man. So we’re like nearly neighbours I guess. If you walked her home down the road, I mean. I’m sure you’ll see her again. Don’t be so sad, it’ll be fine.”

Daichi took back his phone, gave one last look at the picture before tapping the favourite button and putting it away. Now feeling a little less defeated, thanks to Asahi’s encouraging words, he set off to have a shower and get ready for dinner. _Asahi is right. She lives just down the road. I’m bound to bump into her again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Note. Michimiya, sweetie. Sorry about the trash talk! You’re so cuteeee  
> -Goobergobbledoc


	4. First Day

Chapter Four: First Day.

_SHIITTTTTTTT. It’s light outside! What time is it? Shit! My phone is dead. Fucking charger!! Damn it, I’m going to be late for my first day!_

**THUMP!**  
Y/N fell down.  
She tried to get out of bed, but in a state of panic, she got tangled in her sheets.  
“Owwwwww,” she cried out to her empty apartment.  
Jumping to her feet and racing to the bathroom, she ignored the pain radiating from the elbow she landed on. Unfortunately, it’s the same elbow that is recovering from a graze she received a few days ago. Racing to the bathroom she quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth. She didn’t have time to change so she reached into her sweatshirt and rubbed on some deodorant.  
Before she raced out the door she grabbed her pre-packed bag, keys and her still dead phone.  
_Maybe someone will lend me their charger today. If I make any friends that is... Unlikely though, because I’ll be late at this rate. If I leave now I should be there in 10-15 minutes._

She ran the whole way there.

 _Think of this as training Y/N. You can do this! Damn, I should have at least put on a bra before I left. And I should have got a backpack instead of this stupid side-strap bag. It makes it so hard to run with!_ she complained to herself as the bag bumped up and down on her hip.  
Stopping at some traffic lights, she was able to manage her hair into a messy bun.  
_Expertly done messy bun if I do say so myself… because I’m a mess of a human,_ she sighed. _How fitting._

Lucky Y/N packed her bag the night before with all the materials she would need for class that day. There wasn’t any scheduled physical training so she didn’t need gym clothes, but she did have a spare pair of yoga pants scrunched in there. Better to be safe than sorry was her motto.  
_I’ll change into the yoga pants in the bathrooms after the first lecture. That way I won’t look like such a scrub in these sweatpants. At least it’s a cool day so I can get away with this sweatshirt. I’d rather not take if off though. People would probably be able to see my nipples though the singlet I’m wearing underneath. Damn a bra would be amazing right now. Lucky boys. Not needing bras. Why are they so frikkin expensive!_  
Her brain now off on a tangent and swearing more than she would ever verbalise, she reached the academy and found her lecture room.  
It was difficult for her to find the room number but that’s because all the other students were waiting around the door. It seems the lecturer was late.

_Nice! I’ll go change into my yoga pants real quick. _  
After changing she raced back to the lecture room where the other students started to file in and take their seats. There must be around 40 or so other police academy students squeezed in this room.  
Y/N chose a seat near the front as she was one of the last people to enter, and apparently no one likes the front.  
Taking her seat, she thought, _there’s just something weird about sitting in the front. It always seems to portray the person as aggressively eager to learn. And they no doubt get picked on by the teachers. Blegh___

__Y/N’s first day went by in a bit of a daze. She didn’t get a chance to meet anyone nice or make friends. However, she did have to do the ‘first-day-introduction-thing’ as the teacher divided up groups of nearby people for a quick ‘welcoming exercise’. Unfortunately, her group was a bunch of high school graduate boys and they seemed to just stare at her.  
_Definitely NOT going to take of my sweatshirt now._  
She hoped she hadn’t appeared rude when she moved her seat somewhere else after the introductions were over. Y/N guessed that this exercise was the teachers attempt at loosening up the students on their first day. Didn’t work for Y/N though. _ _

__By the end of the day she was exhausted. She did have a break for lunch, but between waiting in line at the cafeteria and going to the administration to pick up her academy training shirt, she never seemed to get a breather.  
As she left her last class of the day she bumped into someone, dropping her side-bag from her shoulder.  
She mumbled a defeated apology and placed her bag back onto her shoulder. Normally Y/N would be more enthusiastic with her apologies but today, the world was against her.  
“Sorry about that,” said the person she had bumped into. “You okay? I didn’t mean to bump into you.”_ _

__Y/N dropped her shoulder bag again when she saw the person who was apologising to her._ _

__It was Daichi._ _

__Daichi recognised her the moment she turned and he saw her face. He flashed her a big smile and said, “Funny bumping into you here! You’re not following me are you?”_ _

__“It’s you! Daichi! Hi!” Y/N responded a bit too loud, receiving a few glares from the people passing by. “HA! No I’m not following you. Are you following me though? You’re the one who knows where I live and all,” she joked._ _

__Daichi laughed at her accusation and was about to defend himself before he was cut off by his friend who was towering beside him. He rocked bed-head worse that Y/N’s from sleeping in and wore a smirk on his face that oozed confidence.  
“Ohoho? Who’s this, Daichi? Found yourself a pretty girl, huh?”_ _

__Daichi turned to glare at his friend and then looked back at Y/N.  
“Y/N, this here in my friend Tetsurou Kuroo. Please ignore anything he says as he just likes to stir the pot.”_ _

__“What about me!” cried another tall man who came to stand on the other side of Daichi. This one had hair that look like it had exploded with white and grey spikes._ _

__“Yes Bo. You like to stir the pot too,” Daichi sighed._ _

__“Hey hey hey! I’m Koutaru Bokuto. I’m Daichi’s other, more handsome friend. What is your name and how do you know Daichi?”_ _

__Looking from person to person, tilting her head up a bit, she was surrounded by a couple of well-built giants.  
_Damn these guys are tall,_ she thought.  
“Well, hello. I’m Y/N. I met Daichi a few days ago when he also bumped into me. At least I didn’t hurt my elbow this time.” She teased as she poked Daichi in the chest. “And I’m pretty sure he’s following me because I started the academy today and BAM! Here you are. Coincidence?” Y/N now had one eyebrow raised and a wicked smirk on her face as she questioned Daichi._ _

__“I’ll have you know Y/N, that I actually also started here today.. so yeah! This is in fact a coincidence. Thought a weird one,’ responded Daichi. “For some reason I assumed you were doing something about being a vet with your science degree.”_ _

__“That’s cute you remember that but no, I only wanted to be a vet as a kid so I could play with puppies.” Y/N laughed. “I actually wanted to join the academy since high school but my parents always used to say _‘university will give you options and you’ll make friends for life’_ ,” she imitated in her father’s low voice._ _

__“Okay!’ the tallest guy with the black rooster-like bed-head named Kuroo said while clapping his hands and then rubbing them together. “As much as I’d love to stand here in this hallway and watch you guys catch up and stuff, I think we should move this conversation to the pub! It’s been a good first day but I need a drink!”_ _

__“Me too!” agreed Bokuto, who’s appearance started to resemble more and more like an owl as he bobbed his head around. “You’re coming right Y/N. You can chat with Daichi more at the pub. Plus, I would _love_ to get to know more about you,” he ended with a wink._ _

___He looks like a horned owl._ Was all Y/N could think to that last statement.  
Daichi seemed to agree with the boys plans so he nodded at Y/N with a smile to encourage her to come along._ _

__“Oh well that’s really nice of you guys. But as much as I definitely need a drink after the day I’ve had, unfortunately I don’t think I’m dressed for the occasion,” Y/N replied gesturing to her outfit. “See, my phone died again,” she continued, aiming that last phrase at Daichi who responded with a knowing nod.  
“…And well I had to rush out of the house this morning. Thank goodness its cooler weather today. That’s the beauty of the beginning of spring. It’s still cool enough to wear clothes that also act as pyjamas. Was I wearing this outfit to bed? _Who knows?_ Am I wearing a bra under all these layers? _Who can tell?”_ she joked with a mock conversation using different voices for the answers. _ _

__Just realizing that she basically just told a bunch of random guys that she wasn’t wearing a bra, she slapped her hands over her mouth.  
“Oh my god. Please ignore me. As you can tell my brain has left the building,” she mumbled while slowly withdrawing her hands from her mouth._ _

__They boys seem to think she was hilarious because Daichi and Kuroo started to laugh loudly. Bokuto, however, was staring intently at her chest, probably trying to figure out if she was actually wearing a bra or not._ _

__Noticing this, Y/N crossed her arms over her chest and cleared her throat.  
This caught the attention of the other boys who simultaneously smacked Bokuto on either side of his owl head while yelling at him to “knock it off!”_ _

__“Please excuse this caveman. He has a simple mind and has probably never even seen a bra before,” said Kuroo._ _

__“I HAVE TOO!” defended Bokuto._ _

__“Good for you buddy!” joked Kuroo as he patted Bokuto on the back condescendingly._ _

__

__“Well if it makes you feel any better, I’ve never seen a bra before either,” Y/N attempted to joke with Bokuto to try lighted his mood.  
He seemed to be really confused by this and just stared at Y/N with his wide owl eyes._ _

__“She’s joking you idiot,” Daichi scolded Bokuto._ _

__“Oh… Yeah I knew that!” Bokuto tried to defend himself again, rubbing the back of his head._ _

__

__Y/N laughed at their banter and then returned her smile to Daichi who was already smiling at her.  
“Well I think you look great,” commented Daichi. “Good enough for the pub at least. Come on I think you could really use a drink. Plus, I also think you should probably get a new phone.”_ _

__Y/N giggled at his last comment and said, “It’s not actually my phone. It’s my charger. Its hanging on by a thread and some tape, but I just don’t want to buy _another_ charger because those stupid phone companies need to make chargers that aren’t shit. They make them like that just to squeeze more money out of their customers!” she rambled. “It’s almost criminal really.”_ _

__“Sounds like a real conspiracy you found there, Y/N,” Daichi joked as he reached into his bag to pull something out. “Here. It’s a portable charger. You can charge your phone on the way to the pub. Let’s go.”_ _

__“Well it’s not a conspiracy per-se, because its legit, but thank you for the charger,” Y/N added. “Okie dokie then. To the pub! You know the drill Daichi!”_ _

__“Lead the way?”_ _

__“Yes sir! Let’s go!” she cheered as she gestured for him to lead them all out of the building._ _

__

__Y/N walked next to Daichi as he led the way down the street. Kuroo joined in on the other side of Daichi and gave him a knowing look that said, _I know you like this girl. It is so on. I’ll wing man you._  
Daichi sighed, knowing exactly what that look meant. _This is going to be trouble,_ he thought to himself. _I can’t take these guys anywhere!__ _

__

__Bokuto, who was upset at not being the centre of attention, caught up to the group and squeezed in between Daichi and Y/N. This earnt a ‘glare-of-death’ from Daichi as an intimidating shadow fell across his face._ _

__Kuroo being the dope wingman that he is, offered to race Bokuto to the pub. “Whoever gets there first is the best captain.”_ _

__Bokuto, who was obviously going to join the race (because why wouldn’t he), turned to Y/N and said, “Sorry gorgeous, but I must beat Kuroo there because I am the greatest captain and the best ace there is! I’ll see you there!” He called out as he sprinted after Kuroo._ _

__

___Good one Kuroo. Play to Bokuto’s weaknesses,_ Daichi thought as he returned his attention to Y/N and laughed.  
“Sorry about Bokuto. He can be a bit… _enthusiastic_ ,” Daichi said. “He is a great ace though. He was actually one of the top five aces in the country back in high school.”_ _

__“Wow that’s actually impressive! So were you all captains then? Because Kuroo said something about being the greatest captain right before Bokuto _subtly_ dropped the best ace thing,” Y/N asked._ _

__“Yeah we were all captains. We met at a training camp in high school. They are good friends, though pretty competitive._ _

__“Naw, that’s actually really nice. Plus, a bit of competition never hurt anyone.”_ _

__

__Daichi and Y/N continued their chat uninterrupted, thanks to Kuroo’s wingman skills, and made their way to the pub down the road from the Police Academy campus._ _

__

__“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto yelled at the entering couple, waving his arms around to get their attention. “Over here!”  
Daichi shook his head at Bokuto’s antics and approached the table with Y/N in tow._ _

__“So who won?” Y/N asked as she sat down beside Daichi at the 4 seater rectangle table._ _

__“I’m thinking it was Bokuto because he’s in a good mood,” Daichi guessed._ _

__“Yep!” exclaimed Bokuto. “I am the greatest ace and captain. Of course I would win!”_ _

__“Shut up Bokuto. You frikkin cut me off at the door. I would have won if I wasn’t so kind to let that lady pass though before me.”_ _

__“Ah come on Kuroo! You’re just being a sore loser,” Bokuto chided._ _

__“You’re one to talk! If you had lost you would be dejected the rest of the day,” Kuroo rebutted._ _

__

__Y/N was giggling to herself, looking back and forth between the boys while thoroughly enjoying their banter. She then looked to Daichi and asked, “are they always this feisty?”_ _

__“Unfortunately yes.” He sighed. “Would you guys please behave,” Daichi said, directing his plea at the boys sitting across from him._ _

__“So what does everyone want? I’ll get the first round,” Y/N asked while pushing her chair out and grabbing her wallet from her bag._ _

__“Beer please,” both Kuroo and Bokuto said in unison._ _

__“What? No Y/N you don’t have to do that. I’ll get it.” Daichi said as he got up from his chair._ _

__“Daichi, let the girl pay. She’s the newbie to the group. Rules are rules man,” stated Kuroo._ _

__“Rules are rules, Daichi!” Y/N repeated with a smile, now up from her chair._ _

__

__As Y/N took a step to go forward to the bar, she tripped over the strap of her bag. Daichi and his quick reflexes caught Y/N around her waist and helped her back up.  
Kuroo and Bokuto now up from their seats too as they jumped out instinctively to help._ _

__

__“Classic Bambi,” Daichi chuckled._ _

__“Thanks Daichi,” Y/N said sheepishly. “Wait, did you just call me Bambi?”_ _

__“If the shoe fits,” he quoted with a shrug._ _

__Now facing his attention to the other boys Daichi explained, “Y/N here is a libero, so she is well acquainted with the ground. That and she’s a bit clumsy.”_ _

__“Hey man!” Y/N pointed at Daichi. “I told you I would deny that! I am a respectable lady!”  
Both now just grinning at each other because of their inside joke._ _

__“You guys are weird,” stated Kuroo. “But I think you should let go of Bambi so she can get the drinks.”_ _

__“Oh. God. Sorry,” Daichi blabbered as he snatched away the one arm that was still hanging around Y/N’s waist from when he caught her before._ _

__Giggling, she just waved him off, “It’s fine Daichi. Quick reflexes though. I’ll be right back with drinks._ _

__

__Y/N set off to the bar as Daichi sat back down and exhaled deeply.  
“She is gorgeous, Daichi. How did you find this girl? DIBS!” Bokuto hooted out loud as he shoved his hand into the air accompanied by a smug look plastered on his face.  
Daichi shot Bokuto yet another ‘death-glare’._ _

__“Now, now Bo. I’m pretty sure Daichi already has the dibs. He met her first,” Kuroo voiced._ _

__“Guys. She’s a person. You can’t _’dibs’_ her, okay,” Daichi said mainly to Bokuto. “She is amazing though isn’t she. I can’t believe she’s at the academy with us. This is so weird. I met her the other day when I was out running. Well actually I bumped into her because she stopped running in front of me and I smacked into her.”_ _

__“Aha! Running behind her for the view Daichi. I didn’t think you were so pervy,” joked Kuroo._ _

__“I was not! I wasn’t even really paying attention, which is why I didn’t avoid her” Daichi defended. “She stopped because she heard a puppy crying in one of those water drainage places and she jumped down into it to save the puppy. It was pouring rain so she could have been wash away. It was crazy. Anyway, I helped her back over the fence and I ended up going with her to return to puppy to its owner. Then I walked her home. That’s how we met.”_ _

__“That’s a pretty cute story, bro,” complimented Kuroo._ _

__“Well I told it a lot better this time compared to when I told Suga and Asahi,” Daichi declared, while turning around to see how far away Y/N was before he continued.  
Y/N was still at the bar and was being flirted with by the bartender, Daichi furrowed his brows in jealousy at this while he continued his story. “When I told them, I had just got back from dropping Y/N home and I was kicking myself for not asking for her number.”_ _

__“Well it worked out regardless, so you should be happy. Right Bo?” asked Kuroo, trying to get positive input from the silent Bokuto._ _

__Crossing his arms with a pout, Bokuto responded with, “More like he’s just _really_ lucky.”_ _

__“Aw, come on Bo. Don’t be jealous. It’s not a good look on you,” remarked Kuroo._ _

__

__As Daichi rolled his eyes due to his friend’s childish behaviour, Y/N re-approached the table with a jug of beer and 4 glasses._ _

__“Oi Daichi, help Bambi out will you. Before she spills all the good stuff,” said Kuroo, gesturing to Y/N and the drinks._ _

__“Pffft, please Kuroo. As I said before, I’m not clumsy,” she said as placed down the jug and divided up the glasses._ _

__“Sure thing Bambi,” Daichi joked._ _

__“Ehhh is this a thing now? Being called Bambi? It’s so embarrassing,” complained Y/N._ _

__

__“I think it’s a really cute nickname,” Bokuto complimented in an attempt to flirt as he poured out everyone’s drinks. “Just like you.”_ _

__Y/N Blushed. Feeling uncomfortable with being flirted with by anyone other than Daichi, she cleared her throat and knocked back a sizable amount of her drink.  
Changing the subject, Daichi asked why Y/N wanted to join the police._ _

__“Oh, well...” she started, not exactly knowing how to explain it without mentioning her parent’s death and bringing down the mood. Deciding to just be straight forward, she continued, “After my parents died, the officer assigned to the case helped me out a lot. I ended up living with them while I finished high school. I think I told you about them Daichi. Sora?” she asked to see if Daichi remembered, and he answered with a nod.  
“Well I just really want to help people, to kind of return the favour I guess,” she finished with a shrug._ _

__Daichi gave Y/N a sympathetic smile whilst Bokuto sniffed and said with a wavering voice, “Bambi, that’s so sad. I’m so sorry.”_ _

__“Yeah, that’s rough. I’m sorry that happened to you,” added Kuroo._ _

__“Oh no, it’s fine guys really. I’m fine. It was a while ago. Anyway, tell me about why you guys decided to join?” Y/N asked so as to drift the conversation away from herself._ _

__

__The boys told Y/N about why they all joined and the conversation continued through a couple more jugs of beer before their group was interrupted.  
“Hey guys!” greeted a tall, but shorter than the boys, girl with short brown hair. “Fancy seeing you here! Who’s the girl?” she continued talking and gesturing to Y/N as if she was an inconvenience._ _

__“Hi I’m…” Y/N started to introduce herself._ _

__“Piss off Michimiya,” snapped Kuroo._ _

__“Yeah, take a hike!” added Bokuto._ _

__Kuroo turned to Bokuto and repeated, “Take a hike? What are you an old man?”_ _

__“Shut up!” hooted Bokuto in response._ _

__The girl named Michimiya glared at the bickering boys with a huge scowl on her face. Y/N just sat there looking shocked at the whole situation._ _

__“What do you want Michimiya,” Daichi deadpanned without even turning to face her, then took a sip of his drink._ _

__“Well I just saw you guys laughing over here so I thought I would come and say hi.” She explained. “And since when were we not on a first name basis?”_ _

__“Since you cheated on me with some random dude,” Daichi replied bluntly._ _

__This statement earned a huff from Michimiya and a look of surprise from Y/N as she spat up a bit of her drink.  
Wiping her mouth Y/N whispered, “Holy shit.”_ _

__Daichi turned his attention to Y/N, “you okay?”  
Y/N just nodded in response as she watched the other boys sneer at Michimiya. They obviously hate her for what she did to Daichi._ _

__

__“Just get out of here Michimiya. You’re bringing the mood down,” scolded Kuroo before he looked towards Daichi and gave him a supportive wink._ _

__“Fine!” Michimiya snapped. “I was just trying to be friendly!”  
“Yeah, well, go be friendly with that other guy you fucked,” Bokuto hissed, also having Daichi’s back.  
With another dramatic huff, Michimiya turned around and left._ _

__

__“Bloody hell,” Y/N exclaimed. “Who the heck would cheat on Daichi. That’s like kicking a frickin’ puppy.”  
This earned a few nods from the boys sitting across from her.  
Y/N then sniggered, “Michimiya? More like Bitchimiya.”  
This resulted in thundering laughter from everyone at the table, including Daichi.  
“Are you okay?” asked Y/N, as she reached out to touch Daichi’s leg comfortingly._ _

__“Yeah I’m good. Thanks guys. I appreciate it,” he said to the table._ _

__Thereafter ensued a game of, _‘who can compare the acts of Michimiya to something equally evil’._  
“It’s as evil as that one person who drives unnecessarily slow in the morning, and ends up being the cause of traffic.”_ _

__“It’s as evil as eating tuna in a confined space with other people.”_ _

__“It’s as evil as those people who park in disabled bays but don’t have any disabilities.”_ _

__“It’s as evil as popping a child’s balloon to watch them cry,” Bokuto finished, earning sceptical eyes from his company._ _

__“Ummm, I don’t think that one paints me in the best light though, Bo. I’m not a crying child. Though that is pretty evil” Daichi said while dismissing Bokuto’s scenario, because it probably was a bit too real. Michimiya did cheat on Daichi as if to just toy with him, and Daichi did cry a bit. Though he would never admit it._ _

__

__After a bit more back and forth of comparing the act of cheating on Daichi with other evil scenarios, (as if it was battle to find the one to best describe Michimiya’s betrayal), Kuroo’s phone rang.  
“It’s Kenma,” he said as he looked at his phone. “I’ll be right back. But Bo?”_ _

__“Yeah?” he questioned._ _

__“Be good okay,” Kuroo said as he walked away to answer is phone, not hearing Bokuto defend himself._ _

__“I’m always good!” Bokuto called out after him._ _

__Daichi knew full well that Kuroo was referring to Bokuto’s over-the-top attempts at flirting with Y/N, but he didn’t voice it. It seems Bokuto has also developed a little crush on Y/N._ _

__

__Kuroo returned to a conversation about volleyball, though it was mostly Bokuto boasting.  
“Everything all good?” Daichi asked towards Kuroo._ _

__“Yeah. Kenma just wanted to know if I could pick up some rice on the way home.” Kuroo responded. He then turned to Y/N to explain, “Kenma is my boyfriend. He actually plays volleyball too. He’s the cutest setter I’ve ever seen.”_ _

__Y/N responded with a smile, hiding her thoughts that briefly drifted over to one setter she knew who didn’t turn out so nice. “That’s so sweet. How did you guys meet?”  
“Well…” Kuroo told the loving story of how he met Kenma over a few more drinks. Everyone could tell by the way that Kuroo spoke, that he was really in love with his boyfriend. They had known each other since they were kids and their personalities reflected the best in each other._ _

__

__After finishing off their final drinks, the group left the pub. Kuroo pulled Bokuto along with him towards the train station after they said their goodbyes. Bokuto protested a little before Kuroo convinced him that they should “leave the love birds alone.”_ _

__

__“We are about a 15min walk from where we live,” Daichi pointed out. “Can I walk you home?”_ _

__“That would be wonderful. Thank you Daichi!”_ _

__They continued to chat as they walked and when they eventually reached Y/N’s building, Daichi had finally worked up the courage to ask her phone number._ _

__“Yeah. Sure! Let me put it in your phone,” she said before taking his phone. “Oh right! And here’s your charger back. Thank you so much Daichi. That was really kind of you!”_ _

__“It’s no problem Bambi.”  
Rolling her eyes at hearing her new nickname again, she got ready to go into the building._ _

__“Hey Bambi?”  
Y/N turned around to listen to what Daichi had to say.  
“Well… cause I live right there,” he said while pointing to the direction of his place. “Do you want me to walk with you to the academy tomorrow morning? I mean, because we’d be walking in the same direction anyway.”_ _

__“Sounds great!” Y/N said without hesitation.  
Daichi discreetly let out the breath that he has been holding and gave her a thumbs up. “I’ll text you then,” he said, to confirm a plan.  
“Great! Good night Daichi. Thanks for inviting me out by the way. I had fun. I like your friends they are really nice.”_ _

___“Well they seem to like you too,” he laughed. “Good night Bambi.”_  
Y/N gave him one last wave before entering her building. Once she was inside she let out a little squeal because she was excited at the progress she was making with Daichi.  
Daichi had pretty much the same reaction, except his ‘squeal’ was more like a fist pump. 

__

__When Daichi got home he excitedly explained the whole situation to his housemates who ending up praising him for finally getting Y/N’s number. Before he went to sleep, he played around with Y/N’s contact information, renaming it to Bambi and adding the picture of her with the puppy. He also plugged in his portable charger, just in case Y/N needed it again the next day._ _

__When Y/N got home she called Sora to tell them about her first day at the academy and about how she bumped into Daichi again. Before she went to bed she completed her phone pugging in ritual and texted Daichi her apartment number so he could come up to the door in the morning instead of waiting outside in the cold. Even though her day started off disastrous, she couldn’t help but think that she endured the bad luck, only to be rewarded with the good luck of seeing Daichi again. And with that she fell asleep._ _

__

__Next Chapter: The Beep Test._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love to write some friendly banter. I hope my jokes came across too. I think I'm hilarious, so I hope you do too ;D
> 
> Also, again.. Sorry Michimiya!! You're great! It's all for the plot sorryyyy!!
> 
> Edited again 08.06.2020


	5. The Beep Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day two of the academy. Friendships bloom. Competitiveness is at a high.  
> Lots of context that relates to the whole story including later chapters.

Chapter Five: The Beep Test.

In the morning, Daichi left to go pick Y/N up from her place. Suga had already left for work and Asahi was sleeping in because culinary school didn’t start till a bit later. As he walked towards her place he sent her a text to let her know he was on his way over. She didn’t reply though she must have got the text because she was waiting at the front of her building.

“Good morning!” she cheered with a wave as she skipped up to Daichi.

“Morning Bambi!” he laughed at Y/N’s enthusiasm while waiting for her to catch up to him. “You seem chipper today.”

“Well yeah! I woke up like a normal person today instead of in a fit of panic. AND I’m not dressed like a slob today. So, _yay_ for me!”

Daichi was already in a good mood because he knew he was going to spend the day with Y/N, but her exuberance seemed to uplift his mood to a whole new level.  
“Well I’m glad you’re having a better day than yesterday.” 

“Oh! Well, yesterday wasn’t so bad. I mean, it was brutal until about 4, but then I made some cool new friends,” she winked at Daichi. He blushed slightly and smiled at his shoes.  
“Maybe I’ll get to sit with you guys in some of the classes today, instead of those younger boys from the orientation. They were givin’ off some real creepy vibes yesterday,” she puffed out some air in disbelief at the mentioned encounter. 

Y/N continued to talk animatedly with Daichi while they made their way towards their destination. As they crossed a street Y/N’s foot caught on the side of the curb and she tripped; toppling forward slightly before Daichi grabbed her arms. He steadied her, holding her arms in place while she straightened her posture before laughing. 

“Classic Bambi. At least I know it’s you and not some imposter. You should really work on your balance though. How would it look when you’re the clumsiest cop on the squad?” he teased.

“Humphhh…” she huffed in mock annoyance. “I was just distracted and misread the height of the curb. Still not clumsy. Just… _un-focused._

“Right. _Un-focused,_ ” he repeated using air quotes. “You’re one of a kind you know that?” he sniggered.

Y/N took that as a compliment because, “Who wouldn’t want to be one of a kind?”  
She flashed him her best grin and continued walking with Daichi, making it all the way to the academy without any more falls.

“BAMBI!!!!!” yelled an energetic Bokuto as he got the attention of the entire classroom. He was trying to get Y/N’s attention so she would sit next to him before class began but ended up getting annoyed glares from everyone in the room. Except Y/N. She seemed to think this was hilarious and she took the seat beside him. Daichi took the seat on the other side of Y/N, because he’d be dammed if he let Bokuto get all her attention, and pulled out his notebook for class.

Kuroo entered the room moments after, bed-head with the same effortlessness as yesterday, and took the spare seat next to Bokuto.  
“Cool, cool, cool. So the gang is all here. Good morning guys!” cheered Y/N. “Ready to learn about police codes?”

“Yes ma’am,” responded Kuroo with a salute.

“Ewww, don’t call me ma’am. You make me feel old! Especially surrounded by these youths.” 

“Eghhhh,” she gasped out while grabbing Daichi’s arm to get his attention. “It’s the creepy ones.”

Smiling at the contact, then following Y/N’s line of sight, Daichi saw a group of younger boys all looking at Y/N before sitting down in the front rows of the room.  
_These must be the boys she met yesterday during orientation that creeped her out. I think they are just staring at her because she’s the most beautiful girl here._  
He giggled at her dramatic reaction to seeing the boys again. “I see what you mean. They look troublesome,” he teased. 

Bokuto, looking over at Y/N touching Daichi’s arm, had a wave of jealously rush though him and decided now was the perfect time to drape his arm over Y/N’s shoulder and start a discussion.  
“So Bambi,” he started. “You look absolutely breath-taking today. I bet you didn’t sleep in today.”  
Y/N ducked her neck slightly at the unnecessary contact from Bokuto and muttered a quiet thanks.  
Daichi just glared at Bokuto and they locked eyes in some form of silent competition. 

Bokuto lost the game when Kuroo smacked him on the side of the head. “Oi, Bo. Let go of Bambi. You’re making her uncomfortable.”

“Eh?” Bokuto questioned while rubbing the sore side of his head with his spare hand. He smiled over at Y/N and removed his arm from her shoulder. “Sorry Bambi.”

Y/N shot Kuroo a smile that conveyed a _thank you_ , and he winked as her.  
In response to her silent gratitude he said “Hakuna Matata, Bambi.”

“Too many Disney movie’s Kuroo” she said as she shook her head and smiled at his antics.

Shortly after, the teacher entered the room and explained the outline for this particular subject; Police Codes 101. This subject was one of the many that all police academy students had to complete, which meant that the university graduates and high school graduates would take this class together.  
Some classes were just for the high school graduates, as they had more subjects to complete.  
Some classes were for the university graduates (this included Y/N and her new friends), who’s curriculum was more focus as they only had 6-months to learn everything they needed.  
For the university graduates, to fit all the content they needed in, they had to learn; police codes, ethics, laws, firearms and martial arts. They also had a practical component, which involved some work placement at a police station somewhere in the city, although that wasn’t until later. 

The teacher for Police Codes 101 seemed to be a no-nonsense kind of guy and warned all the students of the heavy workload and the substantial memorisation required for the subject. He stressed the importance of clear communication in police work, lest they let a criminal get away or be the cause of someone’s death.  
Y/N would have been lying if she said she wasn’t intimidated by the man, but memorisation was her strong suit and she was sure that with some hard work, this unit would be no problem.

In Y/N’s mind, it was all well and good to pass a subject, but this content was for life. She needed to know these codes off by heart. It was essential to her chosen career and so when it came to memorising the police codes she wouldn’t settle with anything other than perfection.  
_Geez, I guess I am an aggressive learner. Maybe I should be sitting in the front row with the eager beans._ She shivered at the thought.

Throughout the class Daichi would sneak glances at Y/N. Noticing the way she listened intently and took notes. The neat lettering and black pen, she used to write. Appreciating the way her nose would wrinkle every time she heard a police code that signified something off-putting. The way she would brush aside the hair that fell over her face as she bowed her head to write. He wished he could brush her hair behind her ear for her.

At one-point Y/N glanced up at Daichi to notice him staring at her, which earned him a front row seat to the adorable blush across her cheeks. Looking past her, he could see Kuroo rolling his eyes and shaking his head at the cute display. After being caught staring by both Kuroo and Y/N, he tried to clear his head and focus on the class.

By the end of the class, Y/N had a good understanding of what needed to be done to succeed in the class. She scribbled a quick little study schedule in her notes and packed up her stuff. She was about to get up to head to their next scheduled class, but she noticed Bokuto bang his head against the desk. Y/N gave Kuroo a questioning glance but he just shrugged.

“You okay buddy?” she asked Bokuto and gave him a little pat on the back.  
He just turned his head, while still resting it against the table, and looked over to see a concerned Y/N. He looked so off that his eyes may as well have been blank circles.

“I think he’s a bit overwhelmed by the amount of memorisation required for this class,” interpreted Daichi. “He doesn’t do so well with it,” he whispered in addition.

“Oh. Well if that’s what it is then no worries, Bo!” Y/N said poking the side of his puffed out cheek. “I’m the queen of memorisation. I’ll help you don’t worry.” she assured him.

This perked Bokuto up immediately as he jumped out of his chair and cheered, “HEY, HEY, HEY! I’m going to _ace_ this class! Get it. Ace. HAHAHA” he cackled at his own joke, picked up his stuff and bounced towards the door.”

“You’re probably going to regret that later,” remarked Daichi. “He’s got the attention span of a gold fish.”

“Awww, come on. He can’t be that ba…”

“No really he is,” interrupted Kuroo. “Good luck with that.”  
Grimacing at their concerns, she followed them all out the door to the next class.  
Martial arts.

For the first day of martial arts, the students were sent an email to let them know to wear their academy issued sports shirt as they would start off with some fitness training. The traditional judo outfits came later.  
After changing in their respective locker rooms, the students met their new teacher on the track field behind the main academy building. This class was just for the university graduates so it was a lot smaller than their previous classes.

Y/N POV.  
In the girl’s locker room, as Y/N finished changing, she looked into the mirror. She wore the blue academy shirt and leggings. From her assessment, she could see her prominent backside and that her thighs touched. She knew that her stomach would never be perfectly flat, no matter how much exercise she did. Her body was just the way it was and she never used to really think about it, until she was cheated on.

Since then her brain has been plagued with the thoughts of comparison. She would compare herself to those around her.

 _That girl’s chest is perkier and bigger than mine.  
That girl has that ‘thigh gap’ that people keep talking about. _  
Her thoughts then left the girls in the room and drifted over to her best friend. Ex-best friend.

 _Airi has a bigger chest than me. And longer hair and always found the time to do her nails. She was just better than me,_ she thought as she glanced around the room at the other women to further her comparisons.

_All these women are better than me. I can’t see a single flaw in any of them. How come I can only see flaws in myself.  
Who am I kidding. As much as I like Daichi, I saw his ex-girlfriend. She was basically a tall, slender model. Even though she was a total bitch. She has porcelain skin and long eyelashes. Her hair is shiny and bouncy. I would never have thought that short hair could make a girl look so feminine and appealing because ‘HE’ always told me longer hair was sexy. But she is beautiful though…. The kind of beautiful that you could tell would last. And apparently she ‘was’ the captain of her volleyball team. Unlike me. So you know that people liked and respected her._

_Shut up YN. Shut up. You’ll spiral out of control at this rate and never leave the fucking locker room. Just go out there onto the field, focus and forget about all of this shit.  
Just go and train to be the best police officer you can be.  
And if Daichi is there looking all hot and sexy in shorts again, then just ignore it. Because that temptation will ruin you and this crush will crush you. So just move on and keep on keepin’ on. _

Digging herself out of her self-deprecating thoughts and finishing up her pep talk, she left the locker room. The last one to leave.  
She made her way down the slight hill to the track oval where everyone was standing and waiting.

There were roughly 15-20 people, both men and women, waiting by a bunch of cones set up by an old looking CD player.  
_Of course the CD player looks old. Who buys CD players anymore? I bet the academy has had this for a decade or so,_ she thought.  
_God I sound so jaded._

Everyone was wearing the same light blue police academy issued gym shirt but  
_daymmmmm, Daichi pulls it off well._  
She gave a quick glance to Daichi’s exposed legs. He was facing the other direction, stretching out his hamstrings by touching his toes.  
_There they are. Those thighs. I missed seeing them since the first time we met. He should just wear shorts all the time. I could just watch them all day. So nice and muscular. Sploooosh,_ she joked with herself, thinking about how any further appreciation of those thighs would make any girl wet.  
Sure both Kuroo and Bokuto also had very nice thighs, but there was something about Daichi’s that made her think that if she got suffocated by them, it wouldn’t be the worst way to go.  
He was fit. He wasn’t as tall as the other boys but he did have more muscle in his chest and arms, but most importantly the legs.  
_Daichi, more like Thighchi_ she thought while sniggering out loud at the new nickname she made up.  
_Shit I better not say that out loud. Be cool Y/N. Be cool! Oh god, stop being a pervert. What did I just tell myself before. Don’t even start!_  
Shaking her head to keep it out of the gutter, she started stretching. Bokuto bounded up to Y/N to start a conversation. She was too busy with Bokuto to notice Daichi’s chocolate eyes following her.

Daichi’s POV  
Daichi got changed as fast as he could so he could get back out there to see Y/N. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible… and maybe beat Bokuto to it.  
_Wait. What if she thinks I’m being too clingy? We did just meet not long ago. She’s not a Disney princess that falls in love at first sight. She’s going to get sick of spending all this time with me. God. She is beautiful though. And kind. I never knew anyone so selfless. And, again, I haven’t even known her that long.  
I can tell that she’s totally different to Michimiya, oh, I mean Bitchimiya. She’s loyal too. And hilarious to be around. _

He made his way down to the track field, being the first to leave the locker room. He saw the teacher setting up the cones and offered to help. *(Cause he’s a gud boi)

As he finished setting up the cones as per the instructions, the other men and women started to file in and around them.

The teacher then looked to the group of academy students and said, “While I finish setting up, why don’t you all stretch before we get started. I’ll explain all this when everyone is here,” he gestured to the set up. 

Daichi made his way over to his bickering friends and began stretching. As he was stretching out his hamstrings by touching his toes (which he could only do because of years of practice as he wasn’t exactly flexible) he heard Bokuto call out to Y/N.  
“Don’t look now, but here comes your girl in tight leggings,” quipped Kuroo to Daichi.

Spinning around to see, he had to force his mouth shut and try not to stare.  
_Oh. My. God. She looks so amazing._  
He admired the tight leggings that hugged her curves perfectly and the smile she wore when she laughed. As he was staring at her profile while she spoke to Bokuto, his eyes wandered over her body. 

_She has the most amazing ass I’ve ever seen. And her bare arms. They look strong and she looks fit. But there’s that sore on her elbow._  
He couldn’t help but feel guilty at seeing that. She still had the graze from when they first met and he bowled her over.  
Suddenly Kuroo slapped his back which got Daichi out of his thoughts just in time as Y/N and Bokuto approached them with their conversation.

“Long-time no see!” she cheered at Daichi.  
_God her humour. She’s such a dork but I love it_

As Y/N looked around at the set up for training, she raised her arms to stretch them above her head. This has the snug light blue gym shirt rise up a little, giving Daichi a peek at a sliver of skin showing.  
_Okay I need to turn away from her right now and stop staring. Focus on the…_

“You should stop staring at her so much, man. Or at least be more discrete about it,” whispered Kuroo so only they could hear.  
Daichi widened his eyes in response and turned towards the teacher after having been caught staring at her for the second time that morning.

Normal POV  
“So today we will be starting with the Beep Test so that I can assess everyone’s fitness levels before we start martial arts training,” explained the teacher, earning a displeased groan from the class. “You all know how this works then I guess, due to your collective complaining. Everyone understand? No? I see blank faces so I’ll explain it.

“The test involves running between these cones here, set 20m apart. At the sound of the first beep, you will move from one side to the other. At each beep you will be required move back the other way. If you reach the cones before the beep, you must wait until it sounds before moving back the other way.  
The time between the beeps starts off very slow but picks up pace pretty quickly. You will end up running back and forth between the cones, turning when signalled by each beep. If you do not make it to the next cone before the next beep, then you are out and I will record your score. Your score is determined by the level of beep interval you were up to and how many trips you were able to complete in that level.  
This will not only test your fitness level but also your determination and motivation. If you are motivated, you will push yourself forward and do your best. I will be disappointed in anyone who drops out before I think they have reached their limit.” This ended the long explanation of the test which bored those who have done the test before, and worried those who had never taken it.  
“Everyone line up! Let’s begin.”

As the test reached into the faster paced levels, those still participating started to sweat heavily as the sun beat down on them. The spring day wasn’t exactly _hot_ but the direct sun added with the exercise made a difference. 

Y/N and her friends, now being the only ones remaining in the test, were all getting pretty far in the levels as they are all pretty fit from playing volleyball. Either that or it was due to the collective competitiveness of the group and sheer determination pushing them forward.

However, nearing the end of the test, where the time got to under 4.5 seconds between each beep, _‘Classic Bambi’_ strikes again.  
She falls over her own wobbly legs causing her to miss the next beep, ending her participation. Embarrassed by yet another fall in front of the boys, she groaned in frustration. 

As Y/N hit the ground, Bokuto stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her in surprise with the stupid circle-eyed owl looking stunned mullet face he does, and that causes him to miss the next beep ending his participation in the test.

Simultaneously, as Daichi reached the cones he turned at the next beep to finally notice Y/N on the ground and Bokuto staring at her. Ignoring the test, he jogs up to her in concern to see if she is okay, missing the next beep, thus ending his own participation in the test.

Kuroo being the only one still going with the test out of the 20 students, he continues to sprint back and forth with a smug look on his face. Until he finally drops out a few levels later from exhaustion.  
The Beep Test ended with Kuroo’s wicked grin that oozes cockiness as be bends over to catch his breath. He walks over to his friends, now spread out on the ground by the side lines, and taunts them.

The whole test took only about 15 min to complete and after a quick water break the teacher gathered them round to explain their next activity.

Before lunch time, nearing the end of the class the teacher instructs everyone to stretch and cool down.  
Everyone spreading out to make space for their own stretches they began.  
“Eghh Bambi, you’re pretty flexible for clumsy one. I can’t believe you tripped again. Well actually I can believe it. I just can’t believe you didn’t knock anyone else down,” quipped Kuroo.

“Stop stirring the pot, Kuroo,” scolded Daichi. “But actually though… Classic Bambi.”

“Eghhh stop picking on me! So mean!” she whined.

As Daichi was stretching forward, Y/N came up behind him and rested her hands on his back. “Need some help?”

He pulled back from his stretch at her contact and blushed. “Umm sure. Thanks Y/N.”  
“Hakuna Matata,” she joked. “Thanks for helping me up earlier.”  
With the touch of Y/N’s hands on his back, Daichi became hype aware of how sweaty he is.  
He breathed thought the stretches and his self-consciousness until they were done. He then thanked Y/N as they all made their way back to the locker rooms to shower.

The boy’s showered pretty fast and decided to wait for Y/N by the doors of the girls’ locker room, which did earn a few suspicious looks from the girls walking in and out.  
They discussed what they would do for lunch when Y/N returned and Bokuto let slip that he thinks Y/N is stunning. “I just think she is the best and I like her,” he admitted.  
This caused Daichi a bit of panic because even though he knew Bokuto liked to flirt with her, he also liked to flirt with all girls. He didn’t actually think that Bokuto seriously liked her.

“Nah, sorry Bo. Daichi saw her first. He has dibs remember?” said Kuroo.  
Very soon after, Y/N exited the change rooms, thus ending their secretive conversation.

The gang went to lunch and then finished their classes for the day. They all stayed behind a little in the library to learn Y/N’s memorisation techniques. She made each of them a personalised study plan for their classes based on what they told her were their strengths and weaknesses. She enjoyed their friendships and she would do pretty much anything to make her friends happy and help them succeed. Which Daichi could already tell.

He walked her home and they said their goodbyes, ending the good day they had together. Ready for the next one.

This became a routine for the group. They would sit in classes together, have lunches together and when they had the energy to after class, they would study together. Daichi became more comfortable around Y/N’s presence while his competitiveness with Bokuto continued.

Next Chapter: The Second Photo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else felt personally victimised by the beep test? ( ･ω･)ﾉ
> 
> Edited 08.06.2020


	6. The Second Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second picture it taken and it's pretty cute.

Chapter Six: The Second Picture.

The rest of the week had past, April arrived and spring was well underway. Things between Y/N and Daichi hadn’t progressed much and neither saw each other over the weekend. It wasn’t because they didn’t like each other, but more so due to their own insecurities. They both told themselves that they didn’t want to be too eager to ask the other one out so soon after becoming friends; but in reality it was because they were scared of rejection. 

Monday arrived and it was time to go back to the academy. Daichi had texted Y/N the night before and asked if it was still okay to walk with her to campus.   
_As if I’d ever say no to you Daichi,_ she thought as she completed the ‘Shitty Charger Ritual’ as it had now come to be known.   
Unlucky for her, the tiny bit of charge she saw her phone display before she drifted off to sleep, was all she received.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Eghhhhhhh,” she covers her head with her pillow.

Knock, knock, knock. “Bambi? You there?!”

Now with the adrenaline of panic running through her veins, she shot out of bed fully realising the situation. Her phone had died again, her alarm didn’t go off and Daichi was knocking on her door because she didn’t meet him downstairs like she usually did. 

He’d tried calling her but the line went straight to voicemail, and be bet he knew why.

She raced to the door, double checked she was wearing pants, and swung it open.  
“Oh my god Daichi!!” she panicked, slapping her hand to cover her face. “I’m so sorry! It happened again! My charger is officially kaput and I was going to get one over the weekend but I procrastinated and now I’m making us late. You should go and save yourself! Before I drag you down too!!” She rambled, not pausing to take a breath.

“Bambi. Breathe. It’s okay. You’re not going to be late.” He said as she finally uncovered her face to take in his captivating smile, which immediately eased her worries.

“I’m a bit early, so if you rush, we should be able to leave on time. Plus, I brought you a coffee.” He handed the coffee to her, which she took sheepishly. “Bambi. It’s going to be fine.” He reassured her one last time before she thanked him for the coffee and invited him inside.

“You’re way too good to me Daichi.”   
_Way too good FOR me more like,_ she thought to herself in conjunction with her last declaration.  
“Thanks again for the coffee. You truly saved my life,” she sighed before she took a sip. “Whaaa, Daichi how did you know what coffee I drink?”

He seemed embarrassed by her question because he used the hand not holding his own coffee to scratch the back of his neck. “Well, we all went to get coffees on Friday and I just overheard what you ordered.”

“You remembered that?” she said with a little bit of disbelief in her tone and wonder in her eyes as she looked at him appreciatively.

“Umm, yeah. Sorry if that’s weird.”

“No. Daichi. That… that’s really sweet. Thank you… but... you can remember my coffee order that was mentioned in passing but you struggle with police codes? Geesh, you must love coffee!” she joked as if to lighten the mood and the tight feeling in her chest.

_No its because I like you,_ he replied in his head.

Before he shooed her away to get ready, a cheeky idea crossed his mind.   
_She has got to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. She is a total mess. She really must have woken in a panic because her hair is a bird’s nest, there’s pillow marks on her face and bit of sleep around her eyes… and yet. She’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen._

**CLICK**

“DID YOU JUST TAKE A PICTURE OF ME LOOKING LIKE A SLOB!”

He chuckled in response, “yeah, you look so cute. Plus, it will be handy blackmail if you ever make me late.”  
“DaiCHiiii!!! Pleaseeeeee delete that!” she whined; ignoring the part where Daichi called her cute.

“Only if you hurry up and get ready. I won’t wait around for you all day!” he said with a teasing smile and no actual intention of deleting the photo. He wasn’t going to show it to anyone. He just wanted to keep it as a little memento, kind of like the puppy photo.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh,” she squealed racing to get ready.

“Wait a sec! Before you go, gimme your phone and I’ll plug it in to my portable charger.”

“Thanks Daichi. You’re the best guy ever!” she called out after handing her phone to Daichi. “Well, except for the blackmail part. That’s not very _police like_ of you.”

Y/N gets dressed in a casual outfit, washes her face and brushes her hair into something manageable. Then after smashing back the last of her coffee, she brushes her teeth and re-joins Daichi; who was waiting for her in the living area.

Y/N apartment is quite small. The entry way leads directly into the open plan kitchen/ living area. Off the kitchen side-wall is a door that leads into the bedroom; and the bathroom has doors that opens to both the bedroom and the living room. The place has been kept well as it was renovated completely before her parents passed-away. The large windows in the living space lit up the area with the spring morning sun. Y/N was thankful that she had cleaned her apartment over the weekend now that Daichi was standing in her living room.

Out of breath she says to Daichi, “okay! I’m ready to roll! I’m so sorry again for this. I will not postpone getting a new charger anymore. Those damn phone companies holding me hostage with their crappy chargers…”

“It’s okay. No harm done. Your phone is back on now. You’re screen saver is really cute. Is that you and Sora?”   
She looked at her phone in Daichi’s hands for a reminder of what the picture was and smiled with a content hum. “Yeah that’s Sora. We took that picture when I graduated University. Hence the graduation cap.”

Daichi smiled at her as she did in return. There was a moment where they just looked into each other’s eyes, happy and at ease. Staring at each other like idiots in love.   
Until Y/N remembered that they needed to get going.

She tore her eyes away from Daichi’s and grabbed her bag before ushering him out the door; purposefully ignoring the moment, they just had. She wasn’t sure her heart could take any more cuteness from him.  
Daichi however, had his own heart in his mouth as he was certain he felt like they were more than just friends. For just a moment.

As they began walking towards the campus Daichi had an idea.   
“Hey Bambi. Now that I think of it. I think I actually have a spare charger at my place that will fit your phone. You can come by my place after and pick it up.”

“What? Really! Oh Daichi that’s so nice of you but I couldn’t do that. That’s your spare one which you will need I’m sure. Plus, I need to be a responsible adult and just buy one.”

“No really. It’s no trouble. I don’t use it and its just in a random drawer somewhere. Although, I don’t know how your charger got so bad because mine doesn’t seem to have any problems. What do you do with it? Use it as a jump rope?”

“Okay, Daichi Sawamura. Mark my words. When your charger stops working I’m going to bring up this conversation. And you’re going to be like, _Oh Bambi, I’m so sorry I judged you and your satanic charger. Now I know how you feel._ ” she imitated in the deepest voice she could muster.

“Haha is that supposed to be my voice? You really think I sound like that?”  
“What? Oh come on Daichi. You totally sound like that. You have this like sexy deep husky voice. I think I did a great job capturing that.”

“Oh so you think my voice is sexy do you?”  
“Shut up. It’s not like that!” she defended, slapping her hands over her blushing cheeks. She didn’t know how to respond to that because she actually did like Daichi’s voice. She loved the way it sounded manly and rough but also how it could sound smooth and comforting. In all honesty she could fall asleep to his voice.

“Okay, okay I’ll stop teasing you. But please Bambi. Come over tonight and take the charger. You probably won’t have time to go to the shops to get one after class anyway. And you don’t want to be late again do you?”

She was a little hesitant but agreed. “Thanks Daichi. You really are a sweetheart aren’t you? I’ll make it up to you I promise. I owe you lunch or dinner or something.”  
She hoped he’d take her up on a dinner because it would feel more like a date that way. And with the way Daichi was treating her, she hoped he would want the same thing.

“Okay Bambi. It’s a date!” he said confidently. Then immediately after, not so confidently, “I mean a deal! Or something……”

Next Chapter: Picture Three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 08.06.2020


	7. The Third Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N goes to Daichi's place for the charger. Suga takes a picture.

Chapter Seven: The Third Picture.

After a long day of classes and a small study session in the library with the guys, Daichi and Y/N set off to the land of plentiful phone chargers, i.e. Daichi’s apartment.

Earlier, Bokuto had insisted the group, but really mostly Y/N, have lunch together and then even suggested the studying in the library. Jokes were made about Bokuto being sick, because, “since when did he ever want to study?”  
It was obvious to the other guys that he was behaving that way to gain the attention of Y/N. However, she was too busy to notice because she was thinking about Daichi and if the invitation to his place that night counted as a sort of date.

Daichi and Y/N reached his apartment building, which was just a little further down the street than Y/N’s. As they entered his apartment, they put their shoes aside and Daichi called out, “We’re home!”

“We’re? Wait! Who’s _we’re_ ?” called out the voice of Suga, coming from the living room. The low volume of the television could be heard in addition. Some sport anime was playing.

“You didn’t get my text?” Daichi asked as he and Y/N entered the space. Suga was sitting on the couch and to the side, separated by the kitchen island, was Asahi.

“No I didn’t see it, sorry… But who is this!?” Suga asked over enthusiastically and with a wicked smile as he got up; because he definitely already knew who was with Daichi. He hadn’t stopped hearing about her since the couple met.

“Wait. Who is it?” Asahi asked from the kitchen, a little slow to the conversation.

“Hello! I’m Y/N, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m sorry for the intrusion.”

“It’s no trouble at all Y/N. Lovely to meet you too. I’m Koushi Sugawara but you can call me Suga. I have heard _A LOT_ about you,” Suga replied with a smirk directed at Daichi. “Although, I hear you’re mostly referred to as Bambi.”

“OHHHHH! This is Bambi!!” Asahi, now finally grasping the situation, hurried over to introduce himself. “Hi! So good to meet you! I’m Asahi Azumane, but please call me Asahi,” he said as he bowed slightly to the guest while fidgeting as if he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands.

“Don’t smother her guys! You’ll freak her out!” scolded Daichi.

Y/N, who was not freaked out, sniggered at the excitable nature of the guys in front of her and said, “Fine! I give in. You can call me Bambi. There’s no point in fighting the nickname anymore. I guess it’s going to stick.” 

She had to strain her neck slightly just to look Asahi in the eye. Suga was tall too, taller than her at least; but Asahi was a giant. He was on par with Kuroo’s height, though Kuroo’s rooster hair added a little extra.  
As much as Y/N’s first instinct is to think that Asahi looks like a big tough dude, the adorable bird print on his apron and the timid posture has her thinking that he is just a gentle giant. Suga however has a mischievous glint in his eye like he is up to something.

“Are you guys having a dinner date?” gushed Suga while prompting Y/N to take a seat on a barstool at the kitchen island. “Asahi is a great cook. He’s finishing up culinary school soon. Can I get you some tea or something?”

“Oh I’m fine thank you. Daichi actually invited me over to pick up a phone charger. I don’t want to impose.”

At this, Daichi took to her side, patted her on the back and said “Oh come on now Bambi. You’re always welcome. Please stay for dinner. Suga is right. Asahi is a great cook. Do you think we can add one more Asahi? I did try to message you guys beforehand just in case.”

“Of course. She’s basically our neighbour anyway. I’ll just add a bit more rice. But…. this is a new dish again. It’s being assessed tomorrow so I need your input. You have to be honest.”

“Yeah but can you take it _Mr Heart of Glass,_ ” Daichi laughed.

“Oh shut it you!” Y/N interrupted while giving Daichi a cheeky poke in his ribs. “You’re such a tease Daichi. Asahi, thank you for the invitation. Whatever you’re cooking, it smells wonderful. And your friends seem to have faith in your abilities. I’m sure you’ll do great for your assessment tomorrow.”

Asahi didn’t know what to do with such a genuine complement by someone who he barely knows, so he smiled sheepishly in response. “Well, the chef assessing me tomorrow can be pretty picky and harsh. He has particular tastes and I’m not sure if he’ll like whatever I make. He has been known to throw things and yell at people.”

“Like he’d dare yell at you. You big tree,” teased Suga.

The guys teasing aimed at Asahi, although friendly, seemed to trigger a nurturing instinct in Y/N that made her want to help him.  
“What’s the Chefs name?” she asked.

“Oh, he’s actually very well known in the industry. He does food critiques sometimes too. His name is Chef Haku.” Asahi added more spices to whatever he is cooking in the simmering pot on the stove.

“Hey Daichi, gimme your phone for a second,” she said while turning to Daichi with her hand out. He is leaning against the counter in between Y/N and the next stool. It was almost as if the next stool was a bit too far from her, so he settled between.

“Eh? How come?”

“My phone is dead again. Shhhh I know I’m a mess. My phone is never charged. But I wanna google this guy.”

He cautiously unlocked his phone and handed it over to Y/N. As if he wasn’t close enough because of his decision to stand directly next to her, he leaned in even closer to get a look at what she was doing. This didn’t go unnoticed by Y/N and her heart rate quickened at the close proximity. 

Suga seemed to think the couple was incredibly cute and just watched their interaction rather than returning to the TV.

Y/N opened up the web browser app and typed in the name of the chef. After a little bit of googling and some reading of the chef’s reviews of others dishes, she came to a conclusion.

“Well, Asahi. With my awesome and amazing detective skillzz,” she enunciated the z because she was obviously cool. “…I have found that in most of your teacher’s reviews, he complains about under-seasoning meat. He also mentions in a couple of articles, something about ridiculous and impractical presentation…” she drifted off while reading another article.  
“Actually Asahi. I have to agree with your teacher. Have you seen those stupid restaurants who serve food on objects that should just be plates! Some of them are just so weird but you can tell they are trying to be cool! There’s a section on reddit called _‘we want plates’_. I once saw someone serve a side of butter on a rock. I also saw post about someone who served bacon on a miniature clothes line. Or a burger on a shovel. So just don’t do that and make sure you season the food enough and you’ll do great!!”

Suga seemed to be very interested in the plates thing and asked to see, while Asahi smiled down at Y/N.  
“Thanks Y/N!” Asahi smiled before he continued into a mumble. “It’s just, he’s an intimidating guy and I want to make sure I get it right. I am just really nervous that’s all.”

Y/N handed Daichi’s phone over to Suga so he could see all the ridiculous ways food had been served before she continued to encourage Asahi.  
“Look, I could be wrong but it seems to me like Chef Haku wants to see how _YOU_ cook. And if your seasoning isn’t enough or too much or even other things that I don’t know about because I’m not a chef,” she rambled. “… then I’m sure he will tell you how to improve. That’s the point of learning isn’t it? He is probably trying to get a sense of what your taste is like, and what your palate is like. There are no exact right or wrong answers when to comes to stuff like that and everyone is different. That’s just how it is to be creative. So take what you have learnt from him, but be true to yourself and serve something that you can be proud of. Serve something you know it’s good because you believe so. Not because you think Chef Haku will like due to of all the seasoning of whatever. Am I making any sense? I’m sorry I rambled.”

**CLICK**

“Yeah. That makes sense. Thank you Y/N… Really. That…. that actually means a lot.” Asahi blushed and returned to his cooking.

“Very insightful, Bambi. Even though that’s what I’ve been telling him all along!” complained Suga as he retook his seat on the couch. No one seemed to notice him take the photo on Daichi’s phone and air-drop it, plus a couple of others to his own phone. He stretched his arm out and handed the phone back to Y/N who was still sitting in the bar stool.

“Come on. It’s different when she says it. She doesn’t insult me when she says it,” retaliated Asahi.

Daichi was mentally miles away just smiling like a goof at Y/N’s mini speech. _She can make friends with people instantly. And she’s so supportive and encouraging. And so beautiful,_ he thought before he heard his name.

“Daichi?” Y/N called again.

“Hmmm? Yeah sorry I drifted off for a sec. What’s up?”

“You got a text from Kuroo. Want me to read it to you?” she sniggered.

“Such a snoop. Give it here.”

He read the message from Kuroo. Something about how Kenma ran into someone they all knew from volleyball. A moment later he was thankful he took the phone back from Y/N because he also received a message from Suga. With a photo attached.

The photo was of Daichi, blatantly staring at Y/N with a goofy grin on his face as she gave Asahi a pep talk. Suga must have taken the photo from behind them, before he sat back on the couch. You couldn’t see Y/N’s face but you definitely make out the affection in Daichi’s eyes.

Daichi spun around to look at Suga and give him a glare.

His phone then pinged again. It was another message from Suga. “I think she likes you too.” 

“You okay? Something wrong?” asked a concerned Y/N. “You’re a little red. God what did Kuroo say. He must have pissed you off.”

“Eh? Oh yeah. Kuroo just being a pot stirrer,” he turned his attention to Suga, ignoring the whole embarrassing thing and changed the subject. “He said Kenma hung out with Hinata today.”

“Oh yeah?” he rolled his eyes because he knew Daichi wasn’t going to make a move on Y/N even though she was right there. “What’s he up to?”

“Well apparently Hinata ran into Kioyko and she told him that she broke off her engagement.” he replied. “You should give her a call.”

“WHATT!!! THAT’S GREAT! I mean, that’s sad. I feel bad for her. Or good. Whatever I should call her to catch up.” Suga insisted with a stupid grin on his face.

Shimizu Kiyoko is a woman the guys went to high school with. Everyone had a crush on her back in the day but Suga did have a little leg up on the others. She seemed a little fonder of him and even held his hand once before a volleyball match.

“Ooooo,” Y/N inserted into the conversation. “SuGa LiKeS a GirLLL!”

“Oh please,” he dismissed. “If you saw her you would like her too. She is… a goddess. I swear she’s even prettier since high school.”  
The conversation then delved into their high school life and long lasting friendships as Asahi finished making dinner.

The group sat down to eat and all showered Asahi with praises for his wonderful cooking. Although, his housemates sprinkled a few light insults in there too, because what are old friends for, if not to keep you humble.  
The conversation continued in-between mouthfuls as they discussed the meal, got to know each other and joked around.  
Y/N became amazed at how many old and loyal friends that Daichi seemed to have. It only further proved to her that Daichi was someone special. She kept sneaking extra glances at him throughout dinner. She was almost taking mental notes about him as she admired.

 _He always has such good posture and composes himself with an aura of something like authority… which makes you feel safe as well. He kind of commands respect but also is respectful to everyone.  
He will give me his undivided attention when I talk to him and you can tell he is actually listening. That’s his kindness. That part also shows in the way his eyes crinkle when he does a big genuine smile.  
There’s also just something about his nose. I can’t quite figure out if it’s the shape or what it is exactly but I just want to kiss it. It’s the cutest thing. I love the baby hairs at the hairline on the back of his neck and how he rubs that area when he seems a bit nervous or uncertain.  
I bet my parents would have liked him. They would probably call him ‘a nice responsible young man.’ _ Y/N thought all these things throughout dinner. She was thankful to see him outside of class more. And even more thankful that he seemed to appreciate her company in return.

After dinner, Y/N insisted on helping with the dishes as thanks for the meal and hospitality.  
When it started to get late Daichi offered to walk her home.  
“Don’t worry Daichi. I live so close. You know that. Plus, I could easily kick your ass so I can look after myself. I’ll be safe, but if it makes you feel better I will text you when I get home, provided you give me that charger.”

“Oh crap! The charger. Yeah I’ll get it now. Sorry I almost forgot.” He ran off to his room to search for it as Suga approached Y/N. Thus begins the quick and personal interrogation before Daichi returns.

“So Y/N, do you have a boyfriend?” If Daichi could hear Suga now, he would be so pissed.

“Uh, no I don’t,” she said fidgeting with her bag that she picked up from the front entrance.

“Interesting. Interesting... Daichi’s a great guy isn’t he,” Suga _subtly_ dropped.

Cough. “Uh, yeah he is.” Suga is making Y/N nervous with these questions and with each one she takes a step closer to the door.

“He’s not as confident as he used to be though. Since Michimiya cheated on him. You heard about that right. I think he mentioned you met her.”

“Oh yeah. Bitchimiya,” she laughed, now relaxing because it seemed that Suga was drifting away from the personal questions. “I met her on our first day, but at the pub. She did _NOT_ like me.”

“Sounds like her. She used to be nice, so I don’t know what changed her. We’ve all known her since high school. She was probably just jealous of you. Pay her no mind.”

“Oh I can handle her. I’ve been treated worse. Don’t worry about me, it’s nothing.”

Suga wasn’t sure whether to be happy that Y/N could handle herself or sad that she mentioned she has been treated worse. Though it didn’t matter much as Daichi returned with the charger in hand and passed it over to Y/N.

“Here it is. See! It’s never even been used,” he beamed at her.

“Thanks Daichi. I really owe you big time. For dinner too. Thanks Asahi. You’re all so nice. Geez Daichi. You’re lucky to have so many nice friends. I hope you treat them nicely,” she said as she elbowed Daichi in the side with a wink, hinting at him to ease up on the teasing.

“I agree with her,” Asahi jumped in. “Be nicer to me.”

The sudden outburst by Asahi made everyone double over with laughter as his comment proved too much for them.

With the fading laughter Y/N called out “Good night guys. I’m sure I’ll see you all around. We’re like neighbours after all.” Then she assured Daichi one more time that she was fine to walk home alone before she left.

“I like her. She’s great,” cooed Asahi.  
This statement earned a glare from Daichi.

“N… not like that!” He defended. “I just thought she was nice. I would never…”

“Good because I’ve got enough trouble with Bokuto. He’s always all over her.”

“Does she mind though? Bokuto’s attention I mean,” asked Suga.

“Ummm I’m not sure. I mean you can tell sometimes she thinks he’s a bit much but she’s also really friendly to him.”

“She seems like she’s friendly to everyone though,” inserted Asahi. “In a friend type way. Not a flirty way I mean.”

“You better not lose to Bo. You and Y/N are made for each other. As much as you were smiling like a weirdo at her, she was doing the same to you.”

“Such a romantic Suga.” Daichi said. “Oh yeah! What the hell was with that photo!”

“Whatttt!” he defended. “Just thought it would be a bit of motivation for you. I was hoping to inspire you to ask her out on an actual date or you’ll dig yourself even more into the friend zone.”

“Well I don’t know if I’m in the friend zone. I think she flirts with me but I can’t be totally sure. She could just be being nice.”

“Does she flirt with others the way she flirts with you?”

“Well not that I can see. But that doesn’t mean much because I don’t know any of her friends and I only really see her at the academy so I don’t know about when we’re not together.”

“Well why don’t you ask her to do something this weekend. And don’t ask her to study because that’s stupid.”

“Yeah!” Asahi agreed with Suga’s idea. “And if you make it a group thing then Suga can invite Kiyoko!”

This conversation carried on for a bit longer before Daichi went to bed. The guys had thrown a lot of ideas at him and it started to jumble his tired mind.

As he plugged his phone in to charge he thought about Y/N, not that he wasn’t already thinking about her; but more because he was grateful that her crappy phone charger lead to today’s events. He got to spend more time with her outside of the academy. He is also happy that she got his best friends’ approval.  
Interrupting his thoughts, he received a text from Y/N.  
“I got home safe a few mins ago. Sorry I didn’t reply right away. Had to wait for my phone to turn on. Thanks again for dinner. Your friends are really nice, just like you. See you tomorrow! ( ˘ ³˘)♥ ”

As he was in the middle on contemplating the exact meaning of the kissy emoticon, he received another message; but this time it’s a group chat from Suga and Asahi.  
“Asahi, this is the photo I took before. – insert photo of Daichi staring at Y/N” – From Suga  
“They are so cute.” – From Asahi.

Deciding to not reply to the group chat so as to not encourage them, he saved the photo and added it to his favourites. He was starting to create a cute little photo collection of his interactions with Y/N and he couldn’t help but feel a little bit proud of the small progress that he made in their relationship that day.  
_If anyone finds these photos, they are going to think I’m a stalker or a creep. At least my phone has a passcode so the guys can’t tease me about it._  
Daichi replies to Y/N’s text with a winky emoticon, then stressed about his response thinking it could come across as overly flirty, fiddled with his phone some more and went to sleep.

Next Chapter: The Beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chef Haku is totally made up. I legit just picked a name I liked.  
> I had a teacher at Uni once who I imagined the chef to be like. He also yelled and threw things at people. (；・∀・)
> 
> Also... 'we want plates' is a real thing. Why do people think it's a good idea to serve food on stupid objects. （◎ー◎；）  
> PLEASSEEE tell me if you guys have experienced this phenomena, because I certainly have!


	8. The Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the weekend and the gang goes to the beach!

Chapter Eight: The Beach.

The end of spring started heating up and the forecast for the weekend reflected that.  
Y/N spent all of her Saturday morning in her apartment cleaning, after a good sleep in of course.  
Daichi however, got up quite early to go for a run with Suga, which basically resulted in a long discussion about how he needed to _‘get back out there’,_ starting with asking Y/N out.

Before midday arrived, Y/N was on the phone to Sora, discussing life and such, when she got a call from Daichi.

~~~

Daichi had been sitting at the kitchen island, surrounded by Suga and Asahi before he finally caved in to peer pressure.  
He took a deep breath, tapped on the contact _‘Bambi *deer emoji*’_ and let it ring; but she didn’t answer.  
After a few moments of consolation from the guys, Daichi’s phone rang and the photo of Y/N holding the puppy appeared on the screen.  
He smiled at the photo, snatched the phone off the counter and answered after the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Woah that was so fast to answer!” she exclaimed. “Sorry I couldn’t answer a moment ago. I was on the phone to Sora. How are you?”

Daichi was extremely relieved to hear that she was just busy and that she wasn’t actually dodging his calls like he irrationally thought.  
“Yeah, sorry I was just already holding my phone…” he explained to make himself sound less desperate.  
This received sniggers from Asahi and Suga who could tell that she commented on his eagerness by just his reaction.  
“I didn’t mean to interrupt your call with Sora. I can talk to you later if you like.”

“No, I’m all done. Sora was just lecturing me about police academy stuff and I’m like _it’s the weekend leave me alone!”_ she imitated herself poorly. “So what’s up Daichi? I feel like I can hear laughing in the background. Are Suga and Asahi there?”

Daichi turned around and gave a threatening death glare at the guys, “Yeah they are here… And they won’t shut up.” Daichi waved them off to leave him alone but that only egged the guys on more.  
Giving up with silently arguing with the them, he returned to the conversation.  
“Sorry about them. They are being idiots. Actually… They wanted me to ask you if you were free to hang out today…” Daichi rubbed his forehead in frustration as his blatant lie.

“You chicken,” whispered his silver haired friend. “Why’d you drag us into this!”

Pulling the phone away from his ear and covering the speaker with his hand, Daichi scream-whispered back, “I panicked because you guys were putting me off!”

“Daichi? You there?” he heard when he finally returned the phone to his ear.

“Uhh, yeah sorry I dropped it. Um what were we talking about?”  
Daichi’s anxieties about messing up had him pulling at his hair and mouthing the words, _HELP ME_ to Suga.

“We were talking about hanging out today. What did you wanna do? Or what did _THEY_ want to do. Considering it was the other guys who wanted to hang out,” she teased, obviously getting a huge kick out of how flustered Daichi seemed to be. She’d never experienced him properly flustered like this and she only hopped it was because he was attempting to ask her out.

“What no, uhhh it’s not like that. I mean, I’d like to hang out too…,” he responded and then smacked his own forehead and grimaced.

“Ok good! Because if you didn’t, you could have just told they guys I was washing my hair all day or whatever excuse!” she joked which she immediately regretted. “…not that the others aren’t great though. They are really cool. Umm… did you guys have something in mind.”  
_Okay now I’M sounding like a flustered idiot. What the hell did I say that for?_ she scolded herself.

“THE BEACH!” yelled out Suga over Daichi’s shoulder.

“Shut up Suga!” scolded Daichi, shaking his shoulder and brushing the other man’s hand off. “Sorry Y/N. Did you hear that?”

Y/N laughed, “Yeah how could I not hear that. Is he inviting that Kiyoko girl? Wait, is he just trying to get more girls to go along so that she goes in a bikini? Is your dear friend secretly a pervert?”  
Y/N was joking about this at first but then thought it was actually plausible for the guys to only ask her to hang out, so as to persuade another girl who was apparently a ‘goddess’. Before she spiralled out of control with that thought, she overheard Daichi talking to Suga.

“She asked if you’re inviting Kiyoko so you can perv on girls in bikinis,” relayed Daichi while laughing.  
_If I’m going down I’m taking you with me,_ he thought while not defending his friends honour.

“What? Oooooo that Bambi of yours is a sneaky one isn’t she. She’s just trying to get me to ask Kiyoko out to take the heat of you two,” replied Suga with his hands on his hips in mock resentment.

“I heard that Suga!” Y/N laughed. “Just tell him to ask her anyway. We can invite the other guys too.”

“S…sure. Good suggestion,” stuttered Daichi before he whispered back to the guys. “Now you’ve done it. She’s asked to invite Bokuto and Kuroo!”

“Shit!” whispered the man bun and silver boy in unison.  
This was definitely not what they had been scheming all morning. Inviting Bokuto, who also liked Y/N, to be a part of the plans was going to be a huge problem.

“Okay great. I’m not doing anything now. Are you free? I can grab some stuff and head over to you.” Y/N suggested.

“Umm, yeah! We’re here. Head on over and I’ll call the others. I’ll see you in what… 4 hours to get ready and 2 minutes to walk over… so 4 hours and 2 minutes?”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny. You have witnessed my speedy ninja like abilities at getting ready. I’m amazingly fast. I’ll see you in 15!”

“Okay Bambi. See you soon. Bye.” He hung up, looked at Suga and Asahi and said, “Shit. She’ll be here in 15. What do I do?”

Suga and Asahi were actually sadistically enjoying the situation because, much like for Y/N, they also rarely got to see their fearless captain so flustered. They both had known Daichi since the beginning of high school when they all joined the volleyball team, and he rarely got riled up like this. Even when around other girls. Michimiya was actually the one to approach and confess to him at the beginning of university, and being his only real girlfriend, Daichi never really had to chase anyone. He was usually just focused on volleyball or university.

“It’s fine Daichi! Calm down!” encouraged Asahi while moving his hands, encouraging Daichi to breathe.

“Yeah Daichi, it will be fine. You got a date but you just accidentally invited everyone else,” teased Suga, which received another threatening glare. “Really man, it’s fine! Just don’t call the others and tell her they were busy.”

“What! No I can’t do that! I can’t lie to her!” argued Daichi. “Plus, she’ll figure it out on Monday when she talks to Bokuto and Kuroo. She’s gunna be like a top detective remember. She’s not stupid! She’ll figure it out!”

“Well if she hasn’t figured out that you like her after that phone call, you over estimate her intelligence or she is just as dense as you when it comes to romance.”

“You’re dense when it comes to romance!” retaliated Daichi.

“What are you a child?! I’m actually amazing. I will ask Kiyoko out with us. And if you’re gunna invite the others, you better call them now.”

~~~

About 20 minutes later, Y/N knocked on the door of Daichi’s apartment and was let in by a slightly smug Suga. Daichi was on the phone to Kuroo in the living room and Asahi was in the kitchen packing some snacks. 

“So Suga, did you get your date with Kiyoko?” she teased with some playful side-eye.

“Ah, the banter begins,” joked Suga. “No I didn’t. Not today at least. I asked her to join us but she has plans, so we’re going for dinner in a few days.”

“Wow! Good for you. That’s an upgrade. The dinner date is better. Good work!” praised Y/N as they made their way towards the kitchen island. She caught Daichi’s eye briefly and he smiled at her while continuing his conversation over the phone.  
“Why thank you Bambi. I’m actually surprised she said yes,” he said with disbelief. “But you will be the only girl today I’m afraid. Turns out most of our friends are dudes.”

“How unlucky for you all!” returned the teasing. “So the other guys coming or will it be just us?”

“Well Daichi is on the phone to Kuroo right now and he will probably bring his boyfriend, Kenma. Bokuto heard you were going and basically screamed. I could hear him on the phone with Daichi and I was on the other side of the room.”

Y/N rolled her eyes and exhaled from hearing the way Bokuto acted. “Great,” she said sarcastically. “I mean; Bo is a nice dude and can be really sweet, but if he grabs my ass I will have to punch him in the face.”

“Oohhh!” remarked Suga with interest. “So you’re _not_ in to Bokuto then.”

“My god Suga. What is this? High school. Please, were all adults here, let’s refrain from gossip about who likes whom.”  
“You hypocrite! Who was the one that just asked me about Kiyoko!” 

Y/N laughed, knowing she was caught and ran up to Daichi to escape further ridicule from Suga.

“Hey,” she whispered to Daichi who was still on the phone.

He squeezed her hand in a silent greeting and held on to it as he looked into her smiling eyes while he finished his conversation with Kuroo. The eye contact sent shivers down her spine and made her heart skip a beat.

**CLICK!**

After he hung up, she realised they were still holding hands; so she squeezed it as a way to remind him. Upon realisation, he snatched it back with a flushed face and rubbed the back of his neck. “Hey Bambi! Sorry about that. I was just talking to Kuroo. He said he and Kenma are going to pick up Bokuto on the way and they will meet us at the beach.”

Y/N who was a little flustered by the hand holding as well, took a breath, nodded and asked, “Which beach and how do we get there?”

~~~~~~

Suga drove Asahi, Daichi and Y/N to the beach and on arrival they pulled their belongings to a shady spot that is a little on the grass and a little on the sand.  
The beach had a few other groups scattered along the shore, all enjoying the last weeks of spring air.

Y/N was pretty nervous about being the only girl in her group. She wasn’t the most confident person in her own skin, so she hoped to avoid showing any skin if she could.  
She had left her apartment in a t-shirt and shorts with her swim suit on underneath. She packed a sarong to wrap herself in if she needed to take off her shorts, which she was thankful for remembering. The boys were already in t-shirts and swimming shorts, ready to go when she had arrived at their place and she suspected that they were not as self-conscious about their bodies as she was.

Shortly after arriving at the beach, Kuroo, Kenma and Bokuto joined them.

“Hey, hey, hey! We brought a volleyball net! We have the perfect number for a 3 on 3!” exclaimed Bokuto while spinning a beach volleyball in his hands.

Ignoring Bokuto’s antics, Kuroo approached Y/N and introduced his boyfriend, Kenma Kozume. Kenma is the shortest of the guys and also the quietest. He has a small build, blonde dyed hair and piercing golden eyes. He brought along a PSP and returned to his game after greeting Y/N and the others. You could really tell Kuroo was smitten with him from the way they interacted with each other. Affectionate touches and smiles all round.

While the guys caught up and chatted with each other, Y/N tied her sarong around her waist, tied the end of her shirt around her midriff and slid of her shorts so that she was ready to go test out the water. She then proceeded to put sunscreen on the minimal exposed skin she had.

Suga, who was standing next to Daichi, elbows him and directs his attention towards Y/N. This was his attempt to cue Daichi to go and offer to her help with the sunscreen. A perfect bonding moment in Suga’s opinion.  
However, this little interaction was seen by Bokuto. He saw this as _HIS_ opportunity and basically ploughed Daichi over to get to Y/N first.

“Hey, hey, hey, Bambi, let me help get your neck with the sunscreen. I’ll make sure you don’t get burnt!” he hooted as he took the sunscreen from Y/N’s hands.

“Umm okay. Thanks Bo.” She responded before adding with a whisper, “but if you grab my ass, I will punch you in the face.”

“Yes ma’am!!”

Daichi glares daggers at Bokuto who only grinned owlishly at him in return. 

After Bokuto squeezed out a good amount of sunscreen to apply to Y/N, she offered Daichi the bottle. Daichi then takes off his shirt and starts applying the sunscreen it to his arms and chest.  
Y/N who was slowly getting sunscreen applied by Bokuto, (who is going really slowly in an attempt to milk the moment), gawks at Daichi with her mouth slightly open. 

_Oh. My. God. He is chiselled from stone and made by the gods. His chest is muscular and he has an alluring tan line around his impeccable biceps,_ she thought as she ogled him with a flushed face. Her eyes followed along his large hands as they moved down his chest to apply some sunscreen to his equally sculpted abdomen. His muscles formed a V just above where his shorts began and if that wasn’t enticing enough, there was also a small smattering of hair that guided the eye from below his navel to his tight fitting swimming trunks. His thighs may still be Y/N’s favourite part.

Seeing Y/N staring while tuning out Bokuto’s chatter, Suga comes along, places a finger under her chin and shuts her mouth for her. “You’ll catch flies that way Bambi.”  
Y/N was obviously extremely embarrassing at being caught ogling Daichi with her mouth open, covered her face to hide the fact she was turning bright red.  
_Well I guess Suga knows about my feelings for Daichi now. Shit, I hope he doesn’t say anything._

Instead of making things awkward for Y/N, Suga decides to play wingman and offers to apply sunscreen to Bokuto’s back in an attempt to draw him away. Bokuto was annoyed by this suggestion and he only agreed so that he didn’t appear so demanding in front of Y/N. He really wanted Y/N to do it for him.

Now all sun screened up, which she scolded Bokuto for taking too long with, Y/N walks over to Daichi and offered to do his back.  
Both are delighted at this but don’t show it, (as is Suga because he sees all). Y/N runs her fingers over Daichi’s back, rubbing in the sunscreen and feeling the muscles moving underneath. Once done with his back, she turns him around by his waist to find that his face has blotchy bits of sunscreen that hasn’t been rubbed in. She giggles at him and uses one hand to get the bit on his nose.

**CLICK!**

Suga, who was watching the couple like they are his new favourite TV show, stopped applying the sunscreen to Bokuto and quickly pulls out his phone. He takes one blurry picture of the scene in front of him and then a nice one of Y/N poking Daichi’s nose with both of them giggling.  
Bokuto, who only notice the flirting between Daichi and Y/N because of Suga’s reaction, started to sulk. He turned on emo-mode and became very quiet. 

After a few more giggles, Y/N and Daichi could overhear, “See! Daichi never misses leg day!” This was probably Kuroo trying to talk Daichi up in front of Y/N, and was quickly followed by a few laughs and a confused look from Daichi.  
It seems Kuroo and Suga were on the same wavelength when it came to being a good ‘wingman’.  
Y/N who deemed it socially acceptable to check out Daichi’s thighs in this moment, looked down and exclaimed, “Daichi? More like Thighchi.”  
This made the other guys laugh even harder at the new nickname. Daichi just stands there being all bashful and Bokuto stews further in his emo-mood.

Next Chapter: Volleyball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two pictures from Suga in one chapter. woo woo!
> 
> Next chapter will follow really quickly because I wrote them together! (＾▽＾)
> 
> Thanks for the feedback everyone! It actually really means a lot to me and I feel really encouraged to keep going.  
> ( ˘ ³˘)


	9. Volleyball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conflict at the beach! :O

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason I like putting my characters though a lot of drama.  
> Prologue explains what's going on in Y/N head in this situation.
> 
> But yay! Two chapters in one day ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨
> 
> I hope you like the drama!

Prologue to chapter:

It would be easy to admire all the guys at the beach, because they were all pretty damn attractive in their own way. Some girls would kill to be in Y/N’s position; to go to the beach with a bunch of gorgeous guys like this, with no other girls to compete with for attention. But for Y/N… this was actually a huge cause of anxiety.

Something happened to Y/N when she was cheated on. Something changed inside her. The same probably goes for most people who experience this type of heartbreak.  
Things that she once never considered or payed no mind to, about herself and those around her, now seemed forefront in her mind. Scenarios rattle in her brain, that would otherwise be irrational, now seemed plausible.

 _When you’re cheated on, you don’t trust the people around you as much. But more importantly, you don’t trust yourself. You don’t trust the things you see and feel. You don’t trust your minds interpretation of those events, such as flirtatious touches between people or comments about one’s body. Because if you properly interpreted what was happening to begin with, the heartbreak might have never happened._ This was Y/N’s simplification of what causes the majority of her current anxieties.

Y/N could only think that, if she couldn’t see the heartbreak coming, then how will she be able to see it next time.

_Wouldn’t it be easier to go on by myself and never take risks? Never putting myself out there for someone to love, because I’ll just be waiting for them to change their mind.  
Because that’s what happened to me isn’t it? Someone ‘loved’ me then changed their mind and loved someone else behind my back. _

It’s hard to recover from something like that completely. The life changing feeling of utter betrayal from a loved one. (Two in her case; her boyfriend and her best friend). Especially not long after losing those she loved the most, her parents.

Although obvious to their friends, the attraction between Daichi and Y/N hadn’t taken off as it should have. They could only assume it was due to the fall of _both_ their most recent relationships.

~~~~  
Chapter 9: Volleyball.

Bokuto quietly set up the volleyball net in the sand with Kuroo’s help while the other guys discussed teams. Y/N watched Daichi’s forearms and biceps flex as he gripped and compressed the ball in his hands so as to test how inflated it was.

“Well there are seven of us so one person will be ref. In the sake of fairness, I think Kenma and Y/N should be on opposite teams to balance out the team’s average height,” explained Suga who was rubbing sunscreen on his arms. “Hey Bambi, you’re a libero right?”

“Sure am,” she responded with both her thumbs up. She backed away from the conversation before adding “I’m just gunna go check the water temperature. Pick the teams I’ll be back in a sec.”

While she was gone, it was decided that Asahi would be referee and the teams would consist of; Kuroo, Kenma and Bokuto, then Daichi, Suga and Y/N. A bit of an uneven height distribution, but Kuroo and Suga (the wingmen) planned this to get Y/N and Daichi on the same team, with each still having a setter.

~~~  
After some time playing 3 on 3 volleyball, the score is at a deuce.   
Y/N has been playing considerably well considering that she has been wearing a sarong that falls to just below her knees, limiting her movements. Subsequently, in the heat of completion, she dove for the ball and tripped over her sarong and missed it. Now they are at match point for Kuroo’s team to win.  
Competitiveness taking over the insecurities she has about her legs, she rips off her sarong in frustration and goes to serve the ball.

“Ohyyoyoy, Bambi is getting serious now,” Kuroo sang as he received the ball sending it to his setter. Kenma set it up to Bokuto and called his name to get his attention, but it didn’t work. Bokuto was just standing there, wide-eyed, staring at Y/Ns legs.  
It rochet off his owl hair and sent it flying towards the water. With an eye-roll Y/N ran after it.

Kuroo hit Bokuto on the head and snapped “Don’t stare. She’s obviously self-conscious and doesn’t need your dumb ass making it worse.”

“What! I’m just admiring! Plus, why the hell would she be self-conscious she’s _amazing!_ ”

“Well, admire a little less creepily next time,” responded Kuroo. “We were at match point for god’s sake.”

During this brief intermission, Daichi called Bokuto over so they were face to face with the volleyball net in between. Daichi emanated annoyance and shot Bokuto his classic intimidation face.   
“Anything you do to her; I’ll do to you.”  
Bokuto’s face now resembled that of a stunned mullet whilst the other guys, who overheard their tiff, responded in laughter.

The ball travelled closely to the waterline but was stopped by a guy with an undercut and top died hair. He must have recently been in the water as his muscles were dripping wet. He picks up the ball and hands it over to Y/N while eyeing her up.

Y/N thanks the man and reaches for the ball, before he pulls it back and asks her name. She immediately noticed his tongue ring when he spoke. The water rippled down his chest and his swimming trunks clung to his thick legs. That must have been annoying for him to move with but it looked appealing to her. He had this bad boy look about him that made her think about what he could do with his tongue ring. 

Although attractive, there is something off-putting about him in Y/N’s mind.  
 _He’s hot, but is behaving like a bit of a douche._

The guys back at the net stopped bickering to watch the situation play out disapprovingly as Y/N is flirted with. They could see she was a little uncomfortable due to her posture and she was obviously too shy to partake.

As it turns out, the man’s name is Yuji Terushima and he refuses to give Y/N the ball back without getting her number first.

Upon hearing this, Daichi walks over, protectively wraps his arm around Y/N’s waist and stares at Terushima disapprovingly.

“Oooh. Is this your boyfriend then, sweetheart? He seems a little mad you’re talking to me,” teased Terushima.

“Umm, no, uh,” she stumbles over her words because she really doesn’t want to say this. “This is my friend, Daichi.”

Daichi’s heart drops at hearing Y/N refer to him as just a friend, which must have been evident in his face at Terushima smirks at him and breaths out his nose in amusement.

“Daichi Sawamura,” he introduces while shaking the hand of Terushima with too much force, causing the offending man to wince a little.

In this moment Y/N snatches the ball out of Terushima’s arms and skips back over to the boys waiting by the net.   
“…Okay... Ball flew off Bokuto’s face and went out, so that resumes deuce,” Asahi recapped as Y/N returned.

Terushima brushes Daichi aside and chases after Y/N, calling out, “Hey, you forgot to give me your number!”

“I didn’t forget,” she called out bluntly.  
She then stopped walking and turned around to say “Look man. I’m not interested.”

His eyes were bright with amusement at her sassiness. “Oh come on sweetheart. Don’t be like that. Don’t you want to see what I can do with my tongue ring.” He licks his lips.

The group of Y/N’s friends all moved forwards a bit to crowd the sleazy man in an intimidating way. Even Asahi managed to pull off not looking like a coward or a trembling leaf for 30 seconds.

“Now, now. Easy there, fellas. I was just joking.” He raised his hands in defence and then turned to wink at Y/N, just proving that he was not joking. “Geez, you sure do have a lot of boyfriends, don’t you sweetheart. What’s one more, come on. I’ll take you out and we’ll just see what happens. How does that sound, gorgeous?”

“Sounds a little repulsive to be honest,” she jabbed. “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.”

“Aww. How come, princess? Is it because you like this dude,” he points to Daichi. Terushima had hoped that Y/N would turn down Daichi just so he could see the hurt look on his face again.

Y/N blushed lightly at his question but feeling brave she walked up to Terushima, an arm’s reach away, and says, “Listen Terublahblah...” Getting his name purposely wrong. “I’m not interested okay. You’re too pushy so back the fuck off.” 

Her bluntness astounded Terushima while simultaneously entertaining her friends, some of which started sniggering.

“It doesn’t matter if I have a boyfriend or not. I don’t want to give you my number and no means no,” she continued. “Are you saying that if I did have a boyfriend that you would leave me alone? Out of respect for him?”

Terushima was even more surprised by this and responded questioningly, “…well maybe?”

This triggered Y/N even more and she started to really argue with him. “So you would respect my boyfriend’s wishes and leave me alone, but if I, _myself,_ tell you to fuck off, you ignore me thinking _‘oh that silly girl doesn’t know what’s good for her. I’m god’s gift to women.’_ Well, you scumbag, I’m telling you now, you better respect my wishes and leave. me. alone!”

In retaliation he then reaches out and grabs Y/N’s wrist to get her to listen. As he opened his mouth to say something, only a yelp came out because she twisted the offending arm around so that he fell to his knees. 

Y/N, now realising that she had a bit of an extreme reaction to this guy’s advances, lets Terushima go and takes a few steps back. Bokuto comes over to Y/N to comfort her whilst Daichi, puffs out his chest a bit, goes up to Terushima to say, “You heard her, asshole. Just leave her alone. You can’t just go grabbing women like that. And you should probably brush up on what consent is too,” he adds as Terushima scuttles away. 

On his way past her, back to the side of the beach he slithered from, he mutters “crazy bitch,” under his breath.

Hearing this Y/N lunges after him to teach him a lesson, only to be held back by Bokuto arms wrapped around her torso.  
“Easy Bambi. Calm down. He’s going now, it’s okay,” soothed Bokuto, unwrapping his arms from her and turning her to face him instead.

She takes a deep breath.   
Daichi comes up to her to see if she is okay and grasps her hand comfortingly, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.  
“Thanks for the help guys. I guess I over reacted a bit, but… that guy fucking pissed me off. I hate people like that.”

The boys looked at her sympathetically while Daichi tells her that her reaction was somewhat justified. Though he does lecture her a little about not reacting so hard to teasing.  
“Because as shitty as it sounds, and as much as that guys was asking for it, if you broke his arm or punched him in the face because of something he said, then you could have been arrested. I know it must be hard to brush off comments like that, but I don’t want to see you get in trouble for something that is that others guys fault. Although, the way his grabbed your wrist was a bit full on. Actually, you could probably argue self-defence if you did break his arm from that. Though I don’t know how successful you’d be. The system isn’t exactly fair when it comes to stuff like that.”

Y/N listened to Daichi’s lecture, knowing she deserved it and shyly played with his fingers that were still in her hand. She then nods in agreement and apologises to everyone for her outburst.

“You don’t have to apologise to us, Bambi. That wasn’t your fault. You didn’t ask to be treated like that. I think he deserved a good punch in the face,” assured Suga.

“Yeah!” agreed out Kuroo. “But let’s not get on Bambi’s bad side. Woah!”  
With the tension now over, Daichi and Y/N went back to smiling at each other like idiots, with Y/N still clinging on to his hand.

**CLICK!**

Suga captures another sweet moment between his new favourite source of entertainment, Y/N and Daichi.

Next Chapter: The Sleepover.


	10. The Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the beach there's a sleepover.

Chapter 10: The Sleepover

There’s nothing like a little bit of adversity to bring a group closer together. That’s what appeared to happen after the _‘beach-douchebag’_ incident, as it will now come to be known.  
Y/N, in particular, felt a lot more comfortable with her new friends. She felt supported and safe around them, which gave her a sense of belonging that she hadn’t experienced in a long while.

The breeze picked up as the day stretched out into the late afternoon. The group decided that they’ve had enough of volleyball and they go for a quick dip in the water before heading home. Bokuto’s emo-mood had perked up significantly since his team won the volleyball match; all thanks to a dope cross court/sand spike. 

Kuroo’s car had left first and Suga’s car was just about to head out too.

But before they could, Daichi got something caught in his eye. He stopped walking to the car and started rubbing it furiously. The wind rustled though his short dark hair, moderately drying it from the swim he took not long before.

“You okay, Thighchi?” Y/N giggled seeing Daichi blinking like a mad thing.

“Yeah, I just got something in my eye.”

“Oh no.” She moved over to where he had stopped, reached up to steady his head with one gentle hand, and with the other, she pried away the hand rubbing his eye.  
He moved his hand down a little, allowing Y/N access to check out his irritated, but beautiful brown orb. He then looked into her eyes, relaxing his furrowed brow as she used her thumb to brush away the single tear that was falling from said eye.  
She leaned in close to inspect it. Daichi’s eye was a little watery and red from the rubbing and there was an eyelash in the corner.

“You have an eyelash in there.” He could feel her breath against his face as she spoke to him softly. She was so close that he could breathe her in. Her captivating fruity scent, mixed with the salty beach air.

“Let me get a tissue and I can try get it out for you. It’s just in the corner so I’ll try not to poke your eye.”  
She leaned away from him to see his whole expression, awaiting confirmation of whether he was okay with this or not.  
He nodded while blinking his eye more, trying to get some relief.  
He disliked the loss of contact for the few moments that she was fumbling with her bag to pick out a clean tissue. She then resumed the position from before, one hand gently holding the side of his face, thumb absentmindedly rubbing his cheek bone, and the other over his irritated eye, steadying the tissue.

“Look up for me okay.”

He did.  
He didn’t need to think about it at all, because he trusts her completely. And even though there was pain in his eye, being so close to Y/N made him feel calm, but at the same time completely wired. There was definitely electricity between them.

“Okay, it’s just there in the corner. Hold really still for me please.”  
He just hummed in agreement and let her use the tissue to gently grip the eyelash that was caught near the tear duct of his eye.

It was all done in a second. “Okay. I got it. All better?”  
He started blinking again to test if his eye was okay or not. “It’s possible that it scratched your eye a little. It looks clear now though, so if it’s still irritating you, just keep blinking and your eye will fix itself. Okay?” She spoke so softy, which felt suitable for how close she still remained.

As she pulled her hands away, Daichi responded with a closed-eyed smile, “Okay. Thanks Bambi. I feel better now.”

Before he opened his eyes again, Y/N reached up and wiped away one more tear with her thumb. This unexpected gentle touch sent shivers down his spine and he fluttered his eyes open to look straight into her’s once more. 

**CLICK!**

Y/N smiled and said, “Usually when you lose an eyelash, you’re supposed to blow on it and make a wish. But too bad, this one’s in the tissue now.” She grabbed one of his hands, placed the tissue inside and finished with, “go nuts.”

She turned around to continue walking to the car, only to see the ‘Man-Bun Giant’ and ‘Silver-Suga’, gawking at them. Suga has his arms raised, holding his phone steady with both hands.  
Y/N cleared her throat, brushed off the awkward feeling and got in the car. Soon followed by a flushed Daichi.  
They hadn’t really done anything, but the moment between them felt so intimate that the way the other guys were staring at them made them feel like they got caught doing something _romantic._

Upon returning to the guy’s apartment building, the boys insist Y/N stay for dinner. With that she races home to shower and change into more comfortable clothes and then re-joins them.

Y/N entered their apartment for the second time that day, and to her it feels like she just got home. The warm smiles and company she receives when she is there, makes her realise that she misses this particular feeling. The feeling of acceptance and warmth.

_Okay, maybe I’m little emotionally needy from being alone most of the time.  
Maybe I can’t handle being totally alone. I guess everyone needs a little human touch. God, I sound like Sora when they try to tell me to go out more. _

She was greeted at the door once again by Suga, but this time _he_ was wearing the bird print apron, rather than Asahi. On closer inspection the apron actually had little crows on it.  
She laughed to herself because, _murder of crows... Is this what murders wear when they don’t want to get their clothes dirty? Oh that joke is bad and I should feel bad._

She follows Suga towards the kitchen and she sees Daichi facetiming someone over on the couch.

“Who is that? I heard a woman’s voice. That better not be Michimiya,” said the phone speaker.

It was Suga who responded to the question asked by the lady that Daichi was talking to. “No Mrs Sawamura! That is Daichi’s Bambi. She’s the one who nicknamed her Bitchimiya!”

“Oooohhhhhh!! I’ve heard about Bambi! Daichi, bring her here, I want to meet her!”

“Wait, what? When did you hear about her? I haven’t said anything.”

This statement from Daichi stung a little, but what was she to expect?  
_Why would Daichi talk to his mother about me anyway. We haven’t actually known each other that long,_ she reassured herself to ease the sting.

“I called Suga the other day when you hadn’t returned any of my messages! Daichi, I thought you were dead! What else was I supposed to do!”

Y/N, being the awkward bean she is, just stayed put by the kitchen counter.

“That’s a bit of an extreme reaction, Mum. I’m sorry I forgot to reply. I was in the middle of something when you were messaging me and it slipped my mind. But you didn’t have to go and call Suga!” He turned around to scold his friend, “Why didn’t you tell me!? What on earth do you guys talk about when I’m not there?”

Suga raised his hands defensively from the kitchen and was about to say something before he was interrupted.

“I had to call Suga. I was worried. Plus, you never tell me what’s going on in your life. Don’t blame him, Honey. I twisted his arm to get information. But really, be nicer to your mother!” she scolded. “Now. Bring your Bambi girl over here. I want to meet her.”

“She not my girl,” he muttered before gesturing for Y/N to join him on the couch.  
Y/N pretended not to hear that.

“Hello Mrs Sawamura. It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Oh! You’re so beautiful! Wow, look at that hair of yours,” his mother gushed, which embarrassed Y/N greatly and caused her to look down at her feet to hide her blush. 

“Um… thank you.” She cleared her throat.  
Daichi looked over at Y/N, smiled at her reaction and observed her freshly washed and dried hair.  
_So that’s where the fruity scent comes from,_ he concluded.

“So Suga tells me you met my boy while saving a puppy. Is that right?”

The couple smiled at the fond memory and confirmed the story. They seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to the retelling, so they tweaked it a little. They tried to not make it sound as cute and romantic as it actually had been, in an attempt to avoid further embarrassment by Mrs Sawamura.  
They talked about the Police Academy, classes and friends. The origin of the Bambi nickname, the Bitchimiya nickname and more.

“You’re such a nice girl. Your parents must be so proud of you.”

At this, Y/N bit her lip and Daichi wrapped his spare arm (the one not holding the phone), around her in an effort to comfort her.  
“They probably are you know,” he whispered. “You’re doing pretty great.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled back.

“Oh no. Did I say something. Did I just stick my foot in it? Why do I always do that?! Do your parents worry about you becoming a police officer too. Because I can relate to that. I just don’t want to see my baby getting hurt,” his mother rambled.

“Oh it’s not that Mrs Sawamura. My parents passed-away a few years ago, but they would probably say the same thing as you,” she laughed sheepishly, forcing a smile.

“Oh, Honey. I’m so sorry,” she cooed sympathetically. “Daichi! Why didn’t you say anything! Now I’ve made her feel bad.”

He pulled his arm back and argued, “When would I have been able to do that!?”

“No, no, it’s okay really- “

“Do you look after yourself properly? Maybe I should come visit and make sure you and your friends are taking care of yourselves and eating vegetables.”

“DON’T WORRY! ASAHI IS OUR HOUSE COOK SO WE’RE GOOD!” yelled Suga from the kitchen, which was met with a chorus of giggles.

Asahi, who heard his name, poked his head out from his room and timidly looked around. Suga waved him off as if to say, _‘don’t worry, its nothing’_ and returned to cooking.  
Shrugging off what happened, Asahi sneaked over to the bathroom to take his turn in the shower.

Soon the facetime came to string of long goodbyes. They kind of long goodbyes that mothers tend to do that drag on for ages before they eventually hang up. 

Once done with the call, Daichi let out a long breath, put his phone away and put his feet up on the coffee table.  
Y/N turned to Daichi and just started laughing really hard.

“What?” chuckled Daichi in return. Her laugher was contagious so what else was he supposed to do?

“I like your Mum. She’s really spunky and fun. And you can tell how much she cares about you.”

“Yeah well you’ve done it now. It may have sounded like an empty threat, her inviting herself over, but she will rock up when you least expect it. Mark my words, Bambi. She likes you and you’re on her radar now. Be prepared.”

~~~

Soon after the call ended, Asahi finished in the shower and joined them in the living room while Suga was putting the last touches on dinner. He hadn’t had the training like Man-Bun, but he had some domestic skills and always made sure that Asahi wasn’t left to do all the cooking. Daichi helped out sometimes too, though his meals were probably the worst of the three. That’s not to say he was bad at cooking. He just wasn’t as accomplished in the culinary arts as his friends.

Daichi helped Suga plate up the dinner for the four of them while Y/N and Asahi picked out a movie to watch. They settled on the Ghibli classic, _‘Howl’s Moving Castle’_ to watch while they all sat on the floor around the coffee table to eat.

When the food had been eaten, dishes done and the movie well under way, the exhaustion of the day finally caught up to Y/N.  
Y/N and Daichi had moved to the three-seater couch, accompanied by Suga; Asahi took the arm chair to the side and rested his feet on the coffee table.  
At some point during the movie, someone provided Y/N with a soft blanket and she drifted off to sleep, head falling on Daichi’s shoulder. Daichi smiled down at the contact and readjusted the blanket so it covered both of them.

At that moment, Suga lifts up his phone to take yet another cute picture for his growing secret collection, and is caught by Daichi who shoots him an angry stare that just says, _’don’t you dare.’_  
Caught in the act, Suga puts his phone down, but not away, and returns his attention to the movie.

The end of the movie rolls around and he sees Daichi resting his head atop of Y/N’s, whilst letting out little sleeping sounds. Both settled under the blanket.

**CLICK!**

If Suga weren’t such a nice guy, he might have left Y/N and Daichi to snuggle asleep on the couch, which would probably result in a bad back for the both of them. But instead he gently shakes Daichi’s shoulder and wakes him up.  
He slowly opens his groggy eyes and takes stock of the situation.  
_It’s dark. Suga woke me up. Movie is over. Y/N’s asleep on my shoulder._  
His sleepy-confused expression relaxes when he smiles down at Y/N fondly before he delicately wakes her up.  
Not willing to be woken, she nuzzles her head into Daichi’s neck in protest.

“Bambi,” he calls to her softy while tucking a hair behind her ear. “It’s time to get up.”

She groans and lifts her head, her face laced with sleepy marks from Daichi’s shirt.  
Suga who is still hovering in the area sits back down beside her on the couch and says, “Hey Bambi. You fell asleep during the movie. Why don’t you stay over tonight? It’s pretty late. I’m sure Daichi wouldn’t mind if you take his room.” 

Yawning and stretching out her arms she murmurs, “No it’s okay. I should go home. I don’t wanna be a bother...”  
Contradicting her last statement, she rests her head back on Daichi’s shoulder, closes her eyes and falls back asleep immediately.

Daichi and Suga look at each other and chuckle.  
“The beach must have really taken it out of her. She’s exhausted. She won’t make it home, but you should move her. She’ll get a bad neck like that.”

“Sugaaa…” Daichi whines because he thinks Suga is up to his wingman antics again.

“Daichiiii…” he wines in return. “Really. Just take her to bed and you can sleep on the couch. I’d offer my bed but… I don’t want to.”

“So kind.”

Suga poked his tongue out at Daichi teasingly and abandoned him to go get ready for bed.

Daichi looks back down at Y/N’s sleeping form and he pulls the blanket off them both. This made Y/N scrunch her eyes at the loss of warmth. Her hair tickled his neck as she nuzzled further into it.  
Daichi can’t believe how cute she is and kind of wished his own phone was in reach so he could take a picture.  
He runs his fingers through her hair to gently re-wake her. “Bambi, you take my bed. You’ll get a sore neck. I’ll take the couch. Okay?”  
Without opening her eyes, she just mumbles something inaudible, too sleepy to protest.

Daichi moves her off his shoulder and stands up. He stretches out his body, and all his joints crackle and pop like rice bubbles. He then scoops her up in his arms and carries her to his bedroom.  
He bumps the door open with his hip and lays her on his bed then covers her with some blankets. Before he leaves, he looks at her lovingly for a moment and brushes the hair out of her face once more. Y/N leans into his touch and hums softly.

“I think you should tell her,” whispers Suga, who is leaning against the door frame.

Daichi pulls back from Y/N’s sleeping form and rolls his eyes at Suga.

“Well okay. But I think you should do it before Bokuto gets to her.”

Daichi lets out a sigh and quietly takes some sleeping clothes from his drawer, dresses in the bathroom and goes to sleep on the couch.

Next Chapter: Suga, The Ultimate Wingman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title tease. Sorry (*＾ڡ＾*)  
> I mean, it is still a sleepover. tehehe
> 
> Dont hate me (^-^)v


	11. Sugawara: The Ultimate Wingman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Suga is a meddler.

Chapter Eleven: Sugawara, The Ultimate Wingman.

Sunday morning arrives and Daichi is on the couch. As the sun beams through the window he lay there awake, watching dust particles fly across the air.  
Normally it would be a weird and an unsettling sensation to wake up in a place other than your own bed, but Daichi remembered why he was there.  
Last night the girl he likes fell asleep on _HIS_ shoulder, and he let her sleep in _HIS_ bed.  
He slept on the uncomfortable couch because _the girl he likes is in his bed._

She’s asleep in his bed!

Worth it.

Daichi gets up and puts on some coffee to brew. Usually when the coffee smell drifts through the apartment, his gremlin housemates sneak out of their rooms shortly after. Which is exactly what happened. Suga and Asahi filed in around the kitchen island and sat down for some coffee and chats.  
The chats beginning with Suga’s new favourite topic, Daichi and Y/N.

“Okay Daichi. I am pretty much certain that she has feelings for you. But for whatever reason she is a little shy about it so I think you need to go in first. You just need to get your shit together and kiss her!”

“Shhhhh! She can hear you!” scream whispered Daichi.

“Your door is closed. She can’t hear, its fine,” Suga argued. “Just talk quietly and don’t avoid the subject.” 

Asahi chimed in with an interesting point. “I wonder why she is so shy. I mean, it really seems like she likes you. But she also kind of keeps a little distance, if that makes any sense.”

“I do have my shit together,” scowled Daichi in retaliation. “Plus, I’m not so sure that you’re right. I don’t know anything about any of her boyfriends or friends or anything. What if she has a secret boyfriend or something? OH! _AND_ she introduces me as her _FRIEND!”_

“Well, how else is she supposed to introduce you? _‘This is Daichi, the guy I like but haven’t told. And we have cute little moments together and a considerable amount of sexual tension but neither or us do anything about it.’_ What a way to introduce someone! I think it’s fair to just ignore that, okay?” Suga makes his point with a playful, but still too hard, punch to Daichi’s gut.

Suga, being the prince of sass that he is, knows exactly how to get under Daichi’s skin with a few words. “You may not be the most scared man on earth, but you better hope that Asahi doesn’t die!”

“HEY!” complained Asahi. “Why the drive by?”

“Sorry. You know I’m joking… But also I’m not and it’s true. You both need to get a back bone.”

Angry reacts from both his friends.

“Oh, calm down. It’ll be fine. What I think you should do now, after messing up asking her out, is just kiss her,” the silver haired man suggested.

“What! I can’t do that!”

“Yes you can.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“She’ll slap me!” he retaliated with panic. “I can’t just grab her and kiss her because then I’ll be worse than that beach-douchebag!”

“What! Dude I’m not saying to just grab her for god sake! What the hell! No, I’m saying just make a move on her with some flirting and if she reacts well to it, which she will, then kiss her! Like maybe take her out for a drink at the pub you guys went to before. I’ll ask Kuroo to distract Bo for you. Have a drink too because maybe it will loosen you up. You’re so uptight when it comes to Bambi.”

“I am not! And I’m not going to kiss her when she’s been drinking!”

“WHAT! No that’s not what I’m saying! Wow you’re so infuriating. Help me out, Asahi!”

“Well, I think what Suga is trying to say, is that you should try and spend some quality alone time with her. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind because I agree with Suga; I think she really likes you. We can help you figure out a way to be alone with her without Bo if you like. But when you are alone, then I think it will just happen naturally from there.” Asahi translated Suga’s words into a different way so Daichi could understand better.

“And I’m pretty sure Suga isn’t saying to get her drunk or anything insane like that. He just meant you should to take her to the pub, which is a good place because you’ve been there before as friends. Don’t get her drunk or anything. I mean I doubt she’d do that anyway. She’s way too smart to fall for something like that, or get drunk with someone she doesn’t want too. And she’s way too assertive to take any shit from anyone. So you shouldn’t worry about it. It would be impossible to make her do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

“I don’t know guys. That sounds risky to me. It just sounds like I’m begging to be punched and then she won’t even be my friend anymore. I can’t deal with that.”

“Just think about it okay?” asked Suga. “I think it’s pretty obvious that she has feelings for you, Daichi. She’s always close to you and you walk her to the academy almost every day. And you’re always looking at each other like love sick puppies. It’s really not going to be that hard to sort this out. I know you messed up asking her on a date, but that’s just because you were being too nervous. Not because she didn’t want to,” Suga assured him with a pat on the back. “Oh, and I don’t think you have to worry about Bokuto very much. I may have asked her yesterday if she was in to him.”  


“You did what!” Daichi Panicked. “Suga you’re going to be the end of me I swear!”

“Oh come on, its fine. She said something about how if Bo touches her ass at the beach then she’d have to punch him in the face. I think that makes it pretty clear that she doesn’t have feelings for him. But he does seem to get in her face a lot and take her attention. Maybe we should see if we can set Bo up with someone else. I feel kind of bad for him anyway. Because he likes Bambi too, but she obviously doesn’t think of him that way and he just refuses to see it.”

“Listen, thanks for the advice and stuff but I just think maybe I should just get to know her mo...”

**THUMP!**

The boys all spin their heads towards Daichi’s room where the noise came from. Then Daichi jumps out of his chair and races over to see what happened.

 **Knock, knock.**  
“Bambi, are you okay?” He says slowly opening the door to see Y/N on the ground rubbing her hip and wincing in pain.

“Uhhhh, I fell.” She groaned. “Where am I?”

He grinned at her and leaned against the door frame. “Classic Bambi. Always falling over. Well, you fell asleep watching the movie and I tried to wake you but you were pretty out of it so I let you sleep in here.”

“Oh? Oh, wh-where did you sleep?” she stuttered looking over at the bed.

“I slept on the couch.” He said straight forward as he walked over to help her stand.

Now feeling terribly guilty, she stands up, wraps her arms around his middle and hugs him. Resting her head on his chest. “I’m sorry, Daichi. I didn’t mean to kick you out of your room.”  
He chuckles, wraps his arms around her and hugs her back, “It’s okay, Bambi. You were very tired and the couch isn’t that bad.”

The hug between them resumes a little longer and Y/N nuzzles her face into his shirt. She breathes him in softly and he smells like coffee and a little bit like cinnamon.  
This gave Daichi a cosy feeling in his stomach and plastered a cheesy grin on his face. He pats her head and runs his fingers though her hair. Both content like that in each other’s embrace.  
_Maybe the other guys were right after all? She’s never hugged me like this before. Actually I don’t think we’ve hugged at all before._

Y/N lets out a content sigh and absentmindedly uses her thumb to stroke against Daichi’s back, not letting go of the hug. 

Still stroking her hair, Daichi has the sudden urge to kiss the top of her head, but restrains himself. “You can sleep some more if you like. If you’re still tired I mean. Did we wake you?”

“Hmm, no I’m good. You smell like coffee,” she hummed.

“Oh?” He chuckles, “Well, there is fresh coffee in the kitchen. Come get some. Also, the guys are making pancakes.”

“Coffee!?” that perked her up a lot. She pulled away from the hug slightly to grin at him.

“Let’s go then.” He grabs her hand, squeezes it, and brings her into the kitchen.

Asahi and Suga’s eyes immediately spot the hand-holding and they turn to look at each other with a smirk. Daichi lets go of her hand for a moment to pour her some coffee in his favourite mug, because she only gets the best, while she leans against the counter.

Y/N looks between Asahi and Suga and says “Good morning, guys.” 

Asahi smiles at her and blushes, while Suga chuckles and says “you look like you slept well. That hair style suits you,” he teased.

“Eeeeep!” she squealed while trying to smooth out her hair. “I always look like a crazy frizzy old maid when I wake up.”

Daichi returns to Y/N’s side, smiles at her fondly and hands her the coffee. “Don’t worry Bambi. You look cute.”

Suga raises up his phone and tries to take a picture.  
This earns a scoff from Y/N. “What are you my paparazzi?”

“You look hilarious. Stay still. Daichi, scoot in closer,” instructed Suga as he framed the picture he was still trying to take. This made Daichi sweat-drop at his friend’s antics but he did take the opportunity to lean in closer, because why not.

**CLICK!**

“Not a bad photo, kids. Daichi, you should make this her caller ID photo instead of the puppy one.”

 _Shit._ Daichi just stares at his friend, unable to believe at how obvious and uncouth he is being.

“Huh? Oh! I forgot about that picture! Let me see!” Y/N cheered. She held out one hand to Daichi who was still beside her, while she took as sip from her coffee mug.

“Oh.. Umm… I don’t know where my phone is. Sorry Bambi,” he shrugged as he patted down his pockets. He knew exactly where his phone was. It’s on the coffee table where he left it; next to where he slept on the couch. He just didn’t want to alert her to the fact that he has that photo in his favourites, with another photo of her looking similar to how she does now. Sleepy with frizzy hair, a slightly flushed face from just waking up and an adorable pillow mark on her cheek.

“That’s okay, guys. Bambi, use your phone to call it. You’ll find it and the photo will come up!” suggested Suga, purposefully ignoring Daichi who is mouthing the word _STOP!_

“Good call, Suga!” She giggled at her pun. “That puppy is adorable. I wanna see the photo. You know, that day I thought you were taking that photo as a kind of pickup to get my number or something,” she laughed as she put her own phone up to her ear to hear the ringing.

 _I was,_ Daichi thought. _Suga’s right. When did I become so spineless?_

There was now a loud vibrating sound coming from exactly where Daichi knew his phone was. Giving up the charade of pretending to not know where it is, he goes over to collect it and returns to show Y/N the photo before the ringing ends.

Y/N took the phone and looked at the picture with a fond smile. “I can’t believe they named it Spot. What a weird name for, what was it again? A Labrador or something?”

Changing the topic, Suga smoothly added, “Actually, Asahi took a good photo of us all yesterday when he was being referee. He sent it to me. See…” He held out his own phone for inspection. The photo was a candid shot of everyone standing around the volleyball net on the beach, talking about something.

“Wait. Ew, is that the beach-douchebag creeping in the background. What a scumbag…” All of a sudden something else crossed Y/N’s mind. “WAIT! Daichi! Did you ever delete that photo of me from that day when I slept in?!”

Daichi coughs and looks off to the side guiltily.

“What photo?” Suga knows exactly what photo because he secretly transferred three photos from Daichi’s phone on the night that Y/N first came to their apartment. He also knows that it’s favorited on Daichi’s phone, like the puppy one and the one of Daichi smiling at Y/N while she gives Asahi a pep-talk in the kitchen.

“Daichiiiiii! You promised! We didn’t end up late that day so you have to delete it!”

“Okay, okay! But it’s just such a cute picture.” He picks up his phone again and shows Y/N the photo one more time before he deletes it.

“It’s okay, Daichi. You can have this picture as a replacement.” Suga texts over the picture of Y/N and Daichi from the moment before. 

“OH MY GOD! Is that what I look like! I’m just gunna…” she drifts off her sentence and points to the bathroom before she takes her leave to further assess the damage and try to manage her mane.

The moment she’s gone from the room, Suga whispers, “When she comes back, ask her to hang out today. But pick something to do that means you’ll be alone.”

Daichi stats to panic. “Crap. I can’t think of anything! What do I do? She’ll be back any second!”

“Calm down. Just whatever you do, don’t randomly invite other people.”

“Yeah but what am I going to sa…” Daichi cuts off his own sentence. 

Y/N returns from the bathroom with her hair managed in a much less disastrous way in comparison to when she woke up.

“What cha guys talking about?”

“Oh were talking about what we’re doing today. Daichi was just saying that he was thinking of going for a run. Maybe you should go with him after breakfast. Keep him company so he doesn’t bowl over any other girls in his path.”

Daichi glares at Suga while Y/N turns to Daichi for an invitation.

“Umm, yeah. Come for a run with me,” he returns his gaze to Y/N. “I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to.. I don’t want to take up your whole weekend. Plus, I bet you have other stuff to do and some studying or whatever.”

“If you don’t want me to go, then I won’t Daichi. It’s okay,” she snorts in amusement and sips her coffee.

“What! No that’s not what I meant! Ummm, please go for a run with me. It will be fun… But I’ll have to bring the first aid kit because, well… you’re you.” Daichi added the joke to ease the tension and take some heat off himself.

“I’m not clumsy!”  
“You literally fell out of bed this morning when you woke up.”

“What! That’s not being clumsy. It’s just that… gravity can be a heartless bitch sometimes.”

After some pancakes and more coffee, and once Daichi has changed clothes, they leave to go to Y/N’s place so she can change for their run as well.

Immediately after the front door closes, Suga turns to Asahi with a mischievous grin and picks up his phone.

Sugawara started a group chat with Kuroo and Asahi.

Sugawara changed the group name to: Operation Bambi and Thumper.

Kuroo: Oya oya! This will be interesting. Is this because we’re trying to get him to thump-her. Wink, wink! ;D

Kuroo: Get it? Thumper. Thump-her.

Sugawara changed the group name to: Two Wingmen and a Stupid Cat.

Kuroo added Kenma to the group.

Kuroo: Ha! Now its TWO cats and two crows.

Kenma: What is this about?

Kuroo: Babe, it’s a group chat to figure out how to get Daichi and Bambi together.

Kenma has left the group.

Sugawara: What was that about two cats? ;)

Sugawara changed the group name to: Operation Get Daichi to Confess.

Sugawara: Anyway, here is my plan and it involves using these photos.

Sugawara attached 10 images.

Next Chapter: Exercise & Ice-cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I have to tell you guys, I got a kitten a few months ago and named him Suga. He’s small and grey and I really wanted to be able to yell out SUUUGGGAAAAAAAAAAA, in Asahi’s voice any time the cat was being naughty.  
> And yes, I yell it all the time. it’s hilarious.  
> “SUUUGGGGAAAAAA! Over here!”  
> ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨  
> Also, this chapter was hard for me to write, mostly because I shot myself in the foot because I added bits that were going to be in this chapter, into other chapters. But also because I had a bit headache and couldn’t concentrate very well so it took me a while to finish.  
> I hope you like it!


	12. Exercise & Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N and Daichi go for a run, get to know each other more and have ice-cream.

Chapter Twelve: Exercise & Ice Cream.

After popping by Y/N’s apartment to let her brush her teeth and change into workout clothes, they set off for a jog in the refreshing spring air. They decided to take the same route from when they bumped into each other on the day they met.

While jogging, Y/N’s phone buzzes persistently and she huffs in annoyance. The frequency of the buzzing made it feel like a phone call, but no. She looks at it to see a bunch of messages; all from Bokuto. The messages ranged from forwarded memes, to asking about her weekend, to asking questions regarding an upcoming test they had. It was actually surprising to her that he seemed to be studying, albeit distractedly, from the volume of messages he’s sending. The study questions he was asking were good ones too. Ones that she would have to answer later, when her mind wasn’t so focused on how gorgeous Daichi looks in his shorts. 

Daichi notices Y/N’s annoyance at her phone, and asks, “All good?”

“Oh, yeah sorry. Bokuto is spamming me. Always so excitable. He’s like a puppy dog isn’t he. But, he looks a little bit like an owl with his hair like that,” she giggled. “I just don’t see why he can’t send things in one message instead of 5, every time!”

“Oh. You’ve been texting Bo?” He asks with a bit of disappointment in his voice but then flashing an over enthusiastic smile to cover it up. As much as Suga assured him that Y/N wasn’t in to Bokuto, he still felt that it was a possibility. As Bokuto’s friend, he knows first-hand how intense he can be, but also how thoughtful, caring and loyal he is to the people he cares about. Bokuto does have a boundless amount of energy but he seems to invigorate those around him rather than exhaust them. Things were always more interesting with Bokuto around, so why wouldn’t Y/N be interested in someone like that.

Y/N glances over at his face and giggles, “Geesh, Daichi. Jealous much?” She sounded like she was joking, but she was actually hoping that it was true. Because if Daichi was being jealous, then that means he returns her feelings.

However, getting called out for being jealous actually disappointed Daichi even further.  
_If I’m that obvious about it, and if she can read me so easily, then she knows about my feelings towards her. And because doesn’t tell me that she returns my feelings, she mustn’t feel the same way._  
Daichi became flustered at her acusation. “What! Ah, no. I’m not jealous! That’s crazy. We’re all friends here, Bambi! If you wanna be spammed by Bokuto then go ahead,” he replied, slowly digging himself a grave with each remark he makes about friendship.

“Well, you can’t tell me that he doesn’t spam you too! You guys have been friends for like a billion years!”

“Pffft,” he scoffed. “You make me sound old! I’m born in December so you’re probably older than me!” Smoothly changing the topic.

“Ehhh? How did I not know this? I’m born in December too. What day are you?!”

“31st.”

“Oooooo, New Year’s Eve baby! Cute!” she cooed. “Wait, what year? Sometimes if you’re born later in the year, they keep you back in school a little. I assumed we were the same age. Are you secretly the baby of the group?”  
“Well uhhh, no. I am a little younger than the other guys, but Asahi is actually the baby. He’s born the day after me; New Year’s Day. He also acts like a baby…” he muttered at the end.

“AHHHH!” she cackled at the hilarity of the oldest looking guy in the group, being the youngest. “But he looks so grown up! Nawww, I thought he was older than everyone by far! But that’s probably just the facial hair.”

“Is it really that funny to you?” he chuckles, stopping next to her and laughing at her own laugh more than anything else.

“No. No, I was just picturing Asahi wearing a baby bonnet! It’s hilarious!”  
She had to steady her laugh and catch her breath before continuing to jog alongside Daichi. “You know, if I didn’t know he was such a softie-sweetheart, I would almost be intimidated by him.”

“Yeah he really does have a heart of glass doesn’t he. Always so nervous. Even when he was the ace of our volleyball team. He had such a powerful spike. He could get through even a three man black, no problem. Though there was a time when he couldn’t and he got in his own head and really psyched himself out. He quit volleyball for a while after we lost pretty badly in our second year. He did get over it though. He’s a lot better now.” Daichi explained. “Actually I think what you said to him the other week really affected him.”

Y/N looked at Daichi and shot him a confused expression.

“You know. When you gave him that pep talk about the dish he was being assessed on by that hard chef. It really gave him a boost, he ended up doing pretty well in that assessment. I don’t think he will be forgetting that any time soon. You were really sweet to say that stuff to him.”

“Well, I hope he does get better confidence. He’s a great guy and a frickin’ _AMAZING_ cook. He just needs a little bit of encouragement to manage his anxieties.” Y/N then turned to Daichi once more and added, “and he could also do with some less teasing from his sweet _older_ friends.” She poked him in his arm to emphasis her point. “You guys are older. You should be looking out for him! He’s allowed to have a heart of glass, that’s just who he is and he can’t help it. I think it’s the duty of his friends to make sure that he doesn’t shatter.”

“So insightful and wise, Bambi. You’re really great, you know that.”

Y/N just huffed, and waved her hand to shake of his compliment.

Daichi knew she was right too. As much as he loved to tease his friend for being a coward, he was similar. Though he didn’t show it as much. That’s probably why Asahi bonded more closely with the guys in the year below them in school. They were more supportive. In this moment Daichi took a silent vow to try and boost his friend up as best he can, so that Asahi will feel invincible.  
Y/N is right; it is the duty of one’s friends to lift you up when you don’t feel like you can’t reach.

Now slowing down to a walk, they approached the place where they met. Y/N walked up to the fence separating them from the drainage site below, and leaned over to look. She half expected to see a puppy, but it was clear.  
Daichi walked up to join her at her side and they both smiled at each other, remembering the day they met, fondly. 

_Suga is right again. We really do just look at each other like love sick puppies sometimes,_ Daichi reflected.

They took a moment to catch their breaths and leaned against the fence while looking across to the store where Daichi got the bandages for Y/N’s elbow on that day. Remembering this, he reaches for Y/N’s elbow to inspect it. Knowing instantly what he was doing, Y/N offered her elbow and said, “It’s all better now. Don’t worry. You did such a good job patching it up.”

Daichi chuckled and ran his thumb over the area where the graze used to be. The touch sending tingles down Y/N’s spine.  
Daichi then decided to take this moment to tighten his shoelace before they took off again. He leaned forward off the fence and bent down. Y/N couldn’t help but let her eyes linger on his backside a bit, then further down the lines of his hamstrings as he stretched. Boy, did she love his thighs.  
She snapped herself out of it and looked around to see if anyone saw her staring at Daichi’s brilliant ass. She took a swig from her water bottle to distract herself from staring while he finished with his shoe.

 _Thank goodness Suga isn’t here to see me. I wonder if he said anything to Daichi about me gawking at him at the beach._  
Suga didn’t actually tell Daichi about the moment from the beach. He’s a meddler, but he isn’t mean. He didn’t want to embarrass Y/N and expose her ogling; and it would just probably make Daichi self-conscious.

Fate wanted to tempt Y/N even further when Daichi took a drink of water from his own bottle. She watched as his Adams apple bop up and down as he gulped, making her feel slightly dizzy and warm. As he pulled the bottle away from his mouth, a bit of the water dribbled down his chin and on to his beautiful neck. She didn’t think she had seen anything so appealing in her life. She realised she had been holding her breath and shook her head to get a hold of her hormones and stared at the concrete below.

“So you and Suga are pretty close huh? He would be your best friend right? I mean I know you and Asahi are close but you and Suga seem a little more chill, you know?”

“Yeah uhh, well they are both my best friends but I guess Suga and I are a little closer. He’s a cheeky bastard isn’t he. Even in school. He might first come across as a well-mannered sweet guy, but he is a little mischievous. However, he always seemed to be the one to keep me in line, even though I was the once lecturing everyone else.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard your lectures. You lectured me right here when we first met!” she laughed.

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Really. Old habits die hard. Plus, I was really worried about you! I thought you were going to get washed away in the drain!”

“Pfffft!” he huffed. “Me!? Nah I can handle myself. Always so composed and steady on my feet!”  
Now they really started laughing hard at Y/N’s blatant lie. She’s called Bambi for a reason and that reason is that she definitely isn’t as coordinated as she claims she is.

“Plus, you were being so dramatic about that. You sound like your mum when she says ‘I thought you were dead!’ Remember, she said that when you didn’t text her back.”

Daichi smiled at his feet, “I’m not that bad!”

“Oh don’t be bashful, it’s cute. Your Mum really cares about you a lot doesn’t she. And you said you have siblings right? A younger brother and sister?”

“Yeah I do. After my Dad left us when I was in school, I kind of had to help out a little more around the house. Obviously I was happy to do it. I mean, I love my family, but I think my Mum worried a little extra over me because I don’t have an older sibling to keep me in line.”

“How often does she call you to check in? She still lives in Miyagi, right?”

“Yeah she does, and she calls every now and then… And apparently calls Suga too,” he grumbled and gritted his teeth. He then sighed and continued, “She mostly just calls to check in and make sure I’m looking after myself. I don’t know where she got the idea that I don’t. Actually it’s probably Suga’s fault. He dobs me in sometimes if I work too hard or stay in too much.”

“Yeah he is pretty dang sassy. Though, I’d probably dob you in too. What it Mumma Sawamura found out. She’d probably kick all our asses if we didn’t look out for you. She’s probably the only one who can actually keep you in line. She seems like such a strong woman!” 

“Mmm I guess,” he grumbled. “I can take care of myself though...”

“You sound like me.”

Daichi soaked in the implications of Y/N’s last statement.  
_That’s right. She’s alone. I’m lucky to have what I have. It’s so easy to forget that she doesn’t have parents to hound her into looking after herself or to care about her. At least she has Sora. And me. I’ll definitely do my best to look after her._

“Wanna head back now?” Y/N interrupted his thoughts. “We should probably get home and start studying.”

“Okay, but I was thinking we should get an ice cream before we go back to studying. There’s an ice cream place just over there,” he said as he pointed towards a shop a little down the road.”

“Okay, but I’ll race you!” she yelled whilst sprinting off without giving Daichi any notice. An eye-roll is all Daichi responded with before chasing after her.

They chose their ice creams, and Y/N insisted on paying because she made him sleep on the couch. “Plus, you and the guys are too nice to me. Always cooking for me and being amazing. I owe you guys, like big time! I need to make you guys something. Or maybe not that. Asahi is too good of a cook to eat anything I make. Suga too. I should take you all out to eat or for a drink or something. Plus, I never took you out to dinner for giving me that phone charger! And look at me now! With a phone all charged and working like I’m a functional adult!”

“Bambi, you really don’t have to do that you know,” he chuckled. “We’re all your friends now. It’s just what friends do. We look after each other. Although, if you didn’t have me then you’d probably have a broken leg in the hospital or be kicked out of the academy from being late all the time.”

Y/N smiled and nodded, knowing his words were pretty on point and she rested against the bench that sat at the front of the shop.  
“And what wonderful friends I have!” She wrapped her arm around his shoulder as he sat down next to her on the bench. “Thanks to you,” she added with a soft smile.

Daichi now had a cheesy grin and went to lick his ice-cream, but the gummy candy that was placed on top fell to the ground.  
He looked at Y/N with a pout on his face and his big brown puppy dog eyes, which made her chest tighten.  
_God he looks so cute. Just like that adorable Labrador puppy._

Not being able to handle the hurt expression on his lovely face, she picked off the candy from her own ice-cream and placed it on his.  
Daichi followed her movements then looked back at her in shock.  
“Why did you do that? You didn’t have to…”  
“I’m sorry. You just looked like a sad puppy, so I had to give you the lolly. I thought you would want it,” she sheepishly defended her action, misinterpreting his look and assuming he was annoyed at her because she touched his ice-cream.

Before she could spiral with that thought, he flashed her a winning smile and said, “Oh you and sad puppies. Always drying to save the lost ones.”

She looked back at him adoringly and giggled, “You make it sounds like you’re a lost puppy too. You’re not lost, Daichi. You’re right where you need to be in life.”

 _Wow,_ he didn’t know that he needed to hear that. Did she have some sort of power that could sense when he was feeling unsure of himself. He continued to look into her eyes as he appreciated her and her words. The work load for the academy had started to pile up, especially with some tests on the horizon. He was feeling a little more stressed than normal.

“Daichi?” she called to him, taking him out of his thoughts. “You’re doing well and I think you’ll do great in those tests. You just need to give yourself a break sometimes. That’s all. You’re doing a good job.”

He let out a long breath and said, “Thanks Bambi. You always know what to say.” He blushed down at his ice cream, picked off the candy and ate it.  
_She’s always been so insightful. I guess I have been overdoing it a little. Come to think of it, the only time I actually relax is when I hang out with her._

To Y/N, he looked so cute in that moment. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and brought it up to take a picture of the both of them with their ice creams. She leaned in close and said, “Smile!”  


**CLICK!**

But it was too late for him. The photo depicted him with a slightly surprised and flushed face, looking at Y/N leaning into his side. His mouth was covered in ice cream and hanging open slightly, where as she had a bright and beaming smile.

He looked at the photo adoringly and said, “Hey, can you send that to me?”

Next Chapter: Bokuto is a Bit Extra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I hit over 30,000 words and am half way through the story! And my fave chapters are coming up soon! Wooo! Everything is coming up Milhouse!


	13. Bokuto is a Bit Extra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Y/N is over-tired and Bokuto is a bit extra.

Chapter Thirteen: Bokuto is a Bit Extra.

Monday arrives and a new week at the Police Academy begins. There happens to be a few tests coming up at the end of the week and the group (Y/N, Daichi, Kuroo and Bokuto), all agreed that they really need to buckle down and focus. There will definitely be late nights and long study sessions in their near future.

Unfortunately for Y/N, she is having a very rough morning. 

Although the era of the bad phone charger had passed (thanks to Daichi), and even though she got up on time; she felt a total wreck. She kept bumping into things, broke a mug and even dropped her breakfast on the ground. She shed a couple tears from this but it was more due to exhaustion than sadness. She is definitely worn out. She did go to bed slightly later than normal, but the reason for her exhaustion was because she had very restless night of sleep.

The first cause of the restlessness was that Y/N had an _intimate_ dream about Daichi. After their jog together the day before, they studied together until dinner when Y/N ordered pizzas for everyone in Daichi’s apartment. She had been spending most of her time with him and Y/N’s mind seemed to be consumed by her feelings for Daichi; which happened to come to a peak in her dream. She couldn’t help but think about his legs and his broad chest. His arms and his face. She wanted more of him than what she had, and in her dreams she got it.

Y/N woke up at the good part of the dream, which was frustrating for two reasons. The first being the obvious one, she didn’t get to finish the good bit. The second, being that she now felt incredibly embarrassed that she had a sex dream about the ‘friend’ she spends nearly all of her time with. She’d have to see him in the morning and she _prayed_ that he wouldn’t be able to notice her awkwardness or read her dirty mind.  
She did manage to go back to sleep in a reasonable amount of time, and if she stayed asleep, then she may not have felt so terrible in the morning. 

The second and principal reason for her exhaustion, was due to the next dream she had. In her nightmare, she was in her childhood home and her family was gone. The house was dark and empty. Although she didn’t see her parents leave, it felt as though they had been taken from her. As the dream continued, she sensed someone chasing her, but she couldn’t run and she couldn’t call for help. Her legs didn’t work and her voice had disappeared.  
Y/N had a lot of dreams like this after her parents past-away. She avoided talking about her dreams (even to Sora), and she just accepted them as a part of life. She had been told by someone in passing, that nightmares are induced by stress. It was nice for her to know why she had these dreams, but that didn’t change the fact that she would wake up nearly every night in a panic, covered in sweat. As time went on the frequency of her dreams decreased and pleasant dreams returned. 

Ironically, on this night Y/N had good _and_ bad dreams that woke her up; making the night feel like it was dragging on forever, and at the same time, not long enough. She even tried to return her thoughts to the Daichi dream, which she knew would make things weird for her in the morning. Earlier she wanted to forget about the sex dream, but now she would rather not forget so that she wouldn’t feel so afraid and alone. 

Post nightmare, Y/N’s body refused to return her to sleep. Her heart rate wouldn’t slow down and her apartment was just a little too dark. So she did what she would normally do when she was in this situation; she cuddled up on the couch with a soft blanket and watched a calming movie on TV.

Y/N awoke that morning on the couch as her alarm went off. And thus ensued her overly emotional morning routine. Her mind would play back and forth between the Daichi dream and the nightmare as she got ready to head out.

When Daichi arrived at her door to walk with her to the academy, she became flustered and foolish. When she looked at him, she couldn’t help but remember the intimate details from her dream, and she _hoped_ that he couldn’t tell. Each part of him that she glanced at was a new reminder for individual naughty memories. Her cheeks flared up in seconds and her heart was pounding in her chest, so much so that she thought he might be able to hear it.

When Daichi saw her open the door, the first thing he asked was if she was feeling okay. “Bambi, you look a little red. And your shirt is inside out. He checked her forehead which only made her more flustered at the physical contact. Now her mind was thinking about what his hands were doing in her dream.

“Um, n.. no. I’m fine,” she said as she removed Daichi’s hand from her forehead. She made a mental note to avoid touching him at all today, because she felt like she might pass out.  
“I just fell over on the way to the door. I didn’t sleep well last night.” She used the good ol’ Bambi excuse to throw him off track. Normally she would never admit to being clumsy but this was the lesser of two evils. The other evil being the explanation of why he made her so flustered.  
She looked down at her shirt to see that it was in fact inside out and then rubbed her face in frustration.

The small stutter as she spoke was adorable to Daichi. Her excuse was believable and he knew she would be tired anyway, because they had stayed up pretty late studying before Y/N went home.  
“Classic Bambi,” he chuckled. “I grabbed you’re a coffee. Monday ritual for us and all. Ready to get going?”

She took the coffee from him, careful not to touch his hand, and said, “Thanks Daichi. I need this so bad. I broke my favourite mug. Let me go fix my shirt, I’ll grab my bag and then we’ll head out.” Her voice broke when she spoke, making her sound like a pubescent teenage boy. She couldn’t help but think that it was appropriate, given her fluctuating hormones.

Daichi was concerned for her well-being from seeing the state she was in. Though she looked normal and as beautiful as ever, aside from her backwards shirt, she just seemed very rattled. Even on days where he knew she woke in a panic, she never seemed as flustered as she did right now.

When Y/N came back from fixing her shirt and retrieving her bag, Daichi lay his hand on her shoulder and gently asked, “Having a rough morning?”  
Y/N nods.  
“Come here then,” he says softly as he pulls her in to a warm hug. Y/N is taken aback by this kind-hearted action and didn’t know what to do. She returned the hug with the one arm she had free and buried her face in his chest so as to hide her never ending blush. Daichi rests his head on top of hers and says, “I guess staying up late wasn’t really worth it huh? It’s my fault we studied so late. I’m sorry, Bambi. You gunna be okay today?” 

He stroked her back softly as she breathed him in. He smells like coffee and cinnamon again. Although the hug freaked her out a little, she thoroughly enjoyed it and it did lift a certain amount of tension from her body.  
He was so close to her ear when he spoke that it felt like a sultry whisper. The soft way he was talking brought out a good amount of huskiness in his voice, as if his throat couldn’t contain it when talking low. There was something so masculine about that, which Y/N found enchanting.

“Yeah. I’ll be okay. Once the coffee kicks in. Thanks again, Daichi. You’re way too nice to me. I definitely don’t deserve you.” She finished her statement with her face still buried in his chest, in attempt to avoid eye contact.

Daichi frowned at her statement, disagreeing with the latter half, and pulled out of the hug to look her in the eye, which she couldn’t avoid.  
“Yeah, well, you deserve the best. Come on let’s go.”

They left her apartment building and started walking to the academy.

Y/N’s heart fluttered with thought that the Daichi in front of her is _so_ much better than her dreams. This Daichi is so caring and sweet; and brings her coffee like he’s some kind of knight in shining armour. She just really needs to cool down her hormones and carry on with her day. 

“So, Bambi. You didn’t sleep well? Is it because you went to bed too late? Or are you feeling stressed? Or both?”

 _No. it’s because I had a sex dream about you and the way you touch me makes me feel like my body is on fire._  
“Ummm, I guess I’m just stressed.”

“Well personally, I don’t think you need to be stressed. You’re like the top of the class. And you work so hard. Not to mention the fact that you look after us and keep us on track, on top of all the things you already do.”

“But Daichi, I have to do well. A pass just doesn’t cut it. We have to know this stuff for the entirety of our careers. Doesn’t it stand to reason that we need to do our absolute best and get perfect scores? And not even just the scores. We need to like truly learn the material.”

“Well, yeah. In a way you’re right. But also, you’ll learn a lot on the job too. All this stuff is crammed into a 6-month course. It’s impossible to be perfect. Even though you’re pretty damn close,” he winked at her to try and lighten her mood. “Then, when we graduate, we will be doing it for real and you will get experience. You will probably be learning your whole career.”

“But what if something I do lets a bad guy get away or if someone gets hurt or-“

“Y/N…,” he interrupted her rambling, not using her nickname because he was trying to be serious. He wasn’t trying to be cute with her, he just wanted to get his point across so that she didn’t torture herself so much. “… as a graduate you won’t be put in a position of responsibility like that unsupervised. You’re not going to be alone and there’s always going to be people around to help you. You’re not alone. You know that right?”

Y/N stared at him for a while, contemplating his statement. He takes her hand and strokes it soothingly. His hands feel so big wrapped around her own small ones.  
“Yeah I guess you’re right. I forget that some times. I’m sorry for freaking out on you.”

He squeezes her hand and says, “It’s okay, Bambi. But you must know that I’m always here for you too. Even without the police stuff. You can count on me and you’re not alone. Not just me either. The other guys adore you and they will always have your back. They are a pretty loyal bunch.” He laughed at that last statement when he recalled all the times his friends had his back.

Still holding his hand while walking, she leans over to rest her head against his shoulder and lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“Anytime,” he smiled down at her. “You can count on me.”

As the couple walked into the academy, Bokuto sneaked up behind Y/N and gave her a surprise hug.  
Y/N, not responding well to the contact from someone unknown, grabs the arms from around her waist, aggressively turns and pushes him against a wall.

Upon seeing that her ‘attacker’ was Bokuto she freaked out. “OH MY GOD! Bokuto! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know it was you! Are you okay? I pushed you pretty hard. You just freaked me out! Don’t sneak up behind people like that!”  
Daichi who saw the whole thing happen just started at them with his mouth open in shock.

Bokuto who seemed unscathed by the push, actually began to laugh at Y/N’s distress. He grabbed her hands in an attempt to calm her down and said, “It’s okay, Bambi. You’ll never hurt me. You’re too cute and small.” He patted her head, not knowing he was being condescending, and then used one hand to indicate their height difference.

Y/N, in her emotionally exhausted state, did not take this well. She squinted at him with furrowed brow and smacked his hand away. “Don’t mock me, Bo. I’m sure I could kick your ass. Don’t underestimate me because I’m smaller than you!”

“What?” He tilts his head to the side, confused by her genuine anger, because he just thought he was being playful. “I’m not underestimating you because you’re small. I’m underestimating you because you’re clumsy.”

Daichi smacks his own head at Bokuto’s stupidity. How could his friend say something so ignorant? Daichi was especially aware that because Y/N hadn’t had much sleep, she would have been extra sensitive to that comment. Y/N prided herself on being independent. She never liked it when someone pointed out her clumsiness or inability to properly take care of herself.

Y/N, who is too tired start a massive argument, huffs and pushes past Bokuto to head into class, grumpier than ever.

Kuroo, who was about to approach the group before he saw the drama, slowly made his way up to Daichi. “Well, shit.”  
Daichi acknowledged his friend’s presence with a nod.  
“Anyway,” Kuroo said and he began a new conversation with Daichi. "A little birdy told me something about how you and Bambi slept together after the beach.”

“WHAT!” Daichi panicked. “We did not!”

“Geez, calm down I’m just teasing you!” the perpetually bed-headed man defended with a wicked grin. “But, she did sleep in your bed though?”

“Well, yeah. But I slept on the couch.”

“How sweet of you to do that. You’re a real prince charming, my friend. Suga did mention to me that I may need to intervene at some point. Apparently the beach thing was your lame attempt to ask her out. I can try and get Bo to give you guys a break, although that won’t be hard given that Bambi wants nothing to do with him after his stupid stunt.”

Daichi nodded in agreement and then turned away from the conversation to see Bokuto, still standing there frozen in shock. This did not bode well for him in the romance department, and it looked like he was about to begin another emo-mode.

“Hey,” Kuroo got Daichi’s attention again. “Maybe Bambi has a friend for him. Can you ask her if she knows anyone to set Bo up with?”  
“I don’t know Kuroo,” his voice full of uncertainty. “She only recently moved to the city so I don’t think she knows many people.”

“Oh, so that explains why she hangs out with you then. She just doesn’t know anyone better… I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Geez she obviously likes you so calm down.”

“Shut up Kuroo. You’re the worst.”

“Ahhh, but you love me though.”

Y/N knew she was being a bit harsh with Bokuto, and she knew he was just joking around with her; but today was not the day. The lack of sleep made her cranky and unfortunately, she took it out on her friend. She’d have to apologise to him later.

It an attempt to get a chance to apologise, Bokuto took the seat next to Y/N in the lecture hall. “Bambi, I’m so sorry. I was joking and shouldn’t have said that. I’ll make it up to you. I promise. Let me buy you lunch.”

“Oh, thanks... But sorry I can’t. I promised Daichi that we would go get ramen together at this new place that we’ve been talking about. Apparently it gets super busy and I said I’d go with him.” She elbows Daichi in the side as he was settling into his seat on the other side of her.

“Huh? Oh yeah. That’s right. Sorry Bo.” Daichi catching on quick to Y/N’s excuse to avoid Bokuto.  
_Geez, he must have really pissed her off. I hope I never get on her bad side. Though I guess this works out well for me because we can have lunch together. Suga would be delighted to hear._

The lectures went by fast, as did judo class. In judo, they were practicing to flip each other on the mats safely. A useful skill for taking down someone without injuring one’s self. This class also taught how to take a fall safely, which is equally important in avoiding injury. 

During a demonstration, Y/N had volunteered to be the ‘flipper’, and so Bokuto volunteered to take the fall. She successfully flipped Bokuto on his butt, maybe a little harder than necessary, making Bokuto recognise that it was actually possible for Y/N to kick his ass like she said she could. Bokuto took it like a champ, hoping that this made them even. This scene brought Kuroo and Daichi into a fit of laughter as they watched him get beaten so easily by the girl he made fun of earlier that morning. The irony was not lost on Bokuto.

Lunch time came around and even though Y/N and Bokuto made up after class, Daichi and Y/N still decided to keep their lunch date. Just the two of them.

Next Chapter: The Lunch Date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was struggling with this chapter then I literally had a dream, woke up, wrote some notes in my phone and then went back to sleep. Thanks dream-self! 
> 
> Also, the next chapter is my fave ahhhhhhh


	14. The Lunch Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi and Y/N go for ramen and run into someone... unpleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a little shorter but this is my FAVE chapter and I wrote it before I wrote any of the others. Squeeeee I hope you like it as much as I do!

Chapter Fourteen: The Lunch Date.

On their way to lunch, walking to the new ramen restaurant across the road, Y/N thanked Daichi for going with her. “Sorry for being such a grump today. I just didn’t get the best sleep.” 

“No worries, Bambi. Plus, Bokuto can be a little extra sometimes, so I understand,” he comforted, as he looked at her with a compassionate smile and kind eyes.

“It’s like you can read my mind sometimes, Daichi. You always seem to be on my wavelength. Which I really appreciate by the way. Thanks again for spending lunch with me.” There was a sigh building in her chest as she looked at him fondly.

As they entered the busy restaurant, Daichi grabbed a couple of menus and handed one to Y/N.  
“My god, I’m so hungry after that training. I think I’ll get the spicy miso pork ramen. Mmmmm.” Y/N was practically drooling from the smells in the restaurant and it didn’t take long to pick her meal.

“Sounds good, Bambi. I might get the same,” he said while putting his menu back onto the pile by the counter.

And then the worst happened…

“Daichi? Is that you? Funny running into you here!”

Daichi knew who that voice was immediately. He shuddered and rubbed his eyes in frustration before turning around to see Michimiya approaching him. They had walked right past his ex-girlfriend’s table on the way in and didn’t notice her sitting there, surrounded by a bunch of other girls who were now all looking his way.

Y/N, unsure what to do in this situation, just patted Daichi on his shoulder as a show of support, before going up to the counter to order for the both of them.  
_Great! It’s Bitchimiya,_ Y/N thought as she paid for the food. _I hoped I wouldn’t have to see this chick again. She’s being so flirty with Daichi. God! How could she cheat on someone like him? He’s fucking perfect. She’s either pure evil or fucking stupid. Maybe both._

Y/N made the executive decision to ask for the meals takeaway so as to facilitate their escape, before returning to Daichi’s side.  
It seemed the overly flirty girl wasn’t being very successful in her attempt at small chat, only receiving grunts and one-worded responses from Daichi.

Upon noticing Y/N’s return, Michimiya picked up her game and started to fondle Daichi’s arm while flirtatiously asking him if his biceps had gotten any bigger.  
_Pretty sure I’d be asking more about his thighs if I were you Bitchimiya, but hey that’s just me,_ Y/N snarked in her head with an eye-roll.

Daichi flinched at the contact with Michimiya, and in retaliation he reached his arm around Y/N to pull her closer to his side.  
_Ooooop, I guess this is happening then. Okay, we will make her suffer and make her regret that she cheated on him. Though I guess she already is with the way she is acting,_ Y/N thought, now mirroring Daichi’s movements and placing her own arm around him, resting her hand on his hip.

This action pissed Michimiya off more as her face scrunched up in disgust. She then turned to face Y/N directly, finally acknowledging her presence and scoffed, “Can I help you?”

“Why? Do you work here?” Y/N mocked with a smug look on her face. She knew she shouldn’t ‘poke the bear’, but couldn’t help it after being treated like that. In further retaliation to Michimiya’s off putting question, she leaned over and kissed Daichi on the cheek. “I’m good. But thanks for your offer. Enjoy your lunch Bitchimiya.” She mumbled the last part under her breath as she turned around to check on how far away their order was. She couldn’t believe that she kissed Daichi on the cheek to make his ex jealous. Her face flushed when she remembered her dream once again.

Daichi at this point, also had a smug look on his face, proud of how flustered Y/N made Michimiya.

“ExCuSe mE!” Michimiya snapped at Y/N.

Turning back around, Y/N faked a smile at Michimiya. “I said.. Enjoy your lunch Matchamiya,” she replied, butchering the name.

“It’s _MICHI_ miya,” she snapped.

“Motchimiya?”

“MICHIMITA!”

“I give up,” she laughed with a shrug and a fake smile.

Daichi was trying to hold back his laughter at the exchange and tightened his hold around Y/N.

“Order for Bambi?” called the person Y/N ordered from.  
Daichi grinned at the fact that Y/N was leaning into her nickname, having given it to the store clerk.  
“Yep! Thanks!” she said, now taking the bag containing two bowls of ramen from the man and then tugging on Daichi’s hand to prompt him to leave the restaurant. “Let’s go, Honey.”

“Right behind you, Love,” he sang with a cheesy smile. “Cya,” he said bluntly to Michimiya before pushing past her to join Y/N, exiting the building.

Now outside, but still in view of the windows of the restaurant, Y/N reached for Daichi’s hand to start walking back to campus together. “Don’t turn around now, but I bet she is fuming!”

Unsatisfied with ending their flirtatious interaction there, Daichi pulled on Y/N’s arm, causing her to stop walking and turn to face him. That’s when Daichi cupped Y/N’s cheek and pulled her in for a soft kiss on the lips.

The kiss stunned Y/N and she just stood there, accepting it, not exactly knowing what to do. After a moment, she registered what was happening, hormones blooming and returned the kiss with a bit more fervour. This is exactly what she craved from him.  
His calloused hand is rough against her skin and it made her feel really and properly touched. The taste of his lips had her heart twisting like a pretzel. His face is smooth and shaved like always and his hand glides into her hair. She breathed in his cologne; cinnamon again. She was admiring how velvety his lips were as his tongue lightly slid across her own. Her senses became over powered, heat rushed through her body and she let him enter her mouth. Her nerves disappeared the moment she tasted him. Not thinking about the implication of the dizzying kiss, she just enjoyed it and clung to his shirt; never wanting it to end.

Once out of breath, they disconnected their lips and looked into each other’s half-lidded eyes. Things were a bit hazy for both of them, still leaned in close inhaling in each other’s breath. If they weren’t so out of it for that moment, they would have heard a slam coming from the building behind them, as Michimiya brought her hand down hard against the table in a jealous rage.

Daichi was the first to recover from the kiss and removed his hand from Y/N’s cheek. “Sorry about that,” he whispered. “…Catching you off guard. I hope…. I didn’t….” He couldn’t put a sentence together but he was thankful she didn’t push him over like she did to Bokuto that morning.

“Huh? Oh, no, no its totally fine. I get it. If I was in your situation I would have done the same thing. Although, I didn’t think that the Mighty Captain Thighchi would stoop so low as to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Though she deserves it.” Y/N laughed and resumed walking by his side once again, briefly touching her swollen and tingling lips with her fingers. She was impressed with herself for not dropping the ramen and throwing her arms around him in a dramatic display of passion like they do in the movies.

Clearing his throat, Daichi stopped himself from saying out loud _Well, I just really wanted to kiss you because you had my back there and stood up for me. But mostly because you’re so beautiful and your lips looked so temping._ “Ummm, yeah. Just wanted to piss her off. Thanks for being so cool about it.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a tell-tale sign of his nervousness.

“It’s no problem, Daichi. Anytime.” Realising that she just gave Daichi permission to kiss her _anytime,_ she became flustered and added, “I mean. I’ve always got your back. You’re like my new best-friend now, right?” The words rolled out of her mouth before she could think them through. _SHIT, shit. I didn’t mean to say that. I know that kiss was only to make Bitchimiya jealous but I didn’t want him to think I thought that. Fuck I’m being such an idiot right now. I should NOT have said that, because what if he actually does like me, and I just friend-zoned him._

In an attempt to hide the shattering of his heart at Y/N’s last statement, he took the bag out of her hands. This bought Daichi some time to recover, plaster a smile on his face and say, “Sure thing, Bambi. Look out Suga, here comes Bambi for your spot as best-friend!” he teased.  
Y/N just smiled and shook her head. _Great. I just friend-zoned myself._

The conversation now seemed to drop in to a sort of awkward silence as they continued their way to an outdoor table in the grassy garden area of the academy. It is another gorgeous and clear spring day, a perfect time to sit and eat lunch in the shade.

“Hey, hey, hey! I thought you guys were having ramen?” The silence was broken by Bokuto as he made his way over to their table. Kuroo following close behind with his own lunch.  
Y/N, actually thankful for being saved from the awkwardness, beamed at Bokuto. This seemed to push Bokuto’s energy into overdrive as he bounded towards her to take a seat by her side. Although Bokuto and Y/N had made up from their little tiff earlier, he was glad to see her smiling at him again.  
Kuroo, while thinking of a way to be wingman and get Bokuto away from the couple, looked to Daichi as if to say, ‘why aren’t you at the restaurant.’

“We ran into Bitchimiya.” Daichi exhaled in frustration at having lost his alone time with Y/N, and the seat by her side. He put the bag of food down on the table and sat on the opposite side of Y/N to face her.

“Eww,” Kuroo responded. “So you got ramen take-away then?”

“Yeah we did. OH right! Damn Y/N I was going to pay! I just realised. I’m sorry!”

“HA!” she snorted. “No way, it’s totally fine. I just ordered whilst you got felt up by Bitchimiya. I bet she’s really regretting letting you go now, huh?”

“Why would that be?” Kuroo asked slyly, turning to Daichi with a knowing smirk on his face and taking the seat next to him.

 _Damn Kuroo. So intuitive._ “She doesn’t seem to like Bambi very much.” Daichi smiled and pointed to Y/N. “She kept pronouncing her name wrong and it drove her mad. It was pretty hilarious actually.”

“NO!” Kuroo and Bokuto both exclaimed in disbelief.

“You didn’t call her Bitchimiya to her face did you?” Bokuto asked with his mouth full of the rice from his lunch.

“I almost did,” Y/N answered.

“No. You did. I heard you. I think she did too,” Daichi laughed.

“Ahhhhh! I didn’t mean for her to hear that!” Y/N explained loudly.

“It’s okay. She probably just assumed you were calling her Matchamiya again.”

“AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!” Kuroo roared with laughter, clutching his stomach in a fit. “Bambi, you really have balls don’t you! So good!”

Y/N responded with a smirk of her own and dug into the ramen that Daichi had laid in front of her.

Next Chapter: Study time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else getting Hagrid vibes from Y/N. “I should NOT have said that!” ;P  
> Also. If you’re not into a little bit of raunchy stuff, don’t read the next chapter. Though you’ll probably miss a bit of the story.  
> ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨
> 
> Also... Is Michimiya a SpongeBob meme?


	15. Study Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explicit studying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay… this is explicit. Sorry not sorry. ⁽(◍˃̵͈̑ᴗ˂̵͈̑)

Chapter Fifteen: Study Time.

It’s Monday night and Y/N and Daichi are studying in his room, books and papers spread across his bed. Y/N is sitting at his desk in the corner with a book and Daichi is amongst the papers on his bed. The memory of the enchanting kiss with Y/N remains fresh in Daichi’s mind as tries his best to concentrate on the work before him. 

Police Codes 101 is the topic of study tonight and memorisation is the task at hand. After a couple of hours of studying, it became warm and stuffy in Daichi’s bedroom. He opened the window while Y/N took off her cardigan; revealing her summery dress that was a little tight around the chest area. Daichi eyed her cleavage for a moment, mouth turning dry, before he snapped himself back to the paper in his hand, barely absorbing any information.

As they both found it hard to concentrate, Y/N suggested they make it a game.  
“I’ll ask you police codes and you have to tell me what they mean. If you get them right, then you get a prize, but if you get them wrong then you get a punishment. Capeesh?”

“Uhhh. I dunno, Bambi. What kind of stuff?” He eyed her suspiciously, discarding the paper that he wasn’t concentrating on.

“Well, if you get the question wrong you have to do something like 20 push ups. Or if you get it right, I’ll buy you a coffee tomorrow before we go to the academy. Stuff like that. Harmless,” she assured him with a smile and a thumbs up. “OH BUT… The prizes are not cumulative. I’ll make it so it’s like, ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire.’ So they start off as small prizes with easy questions, then they get better with the harder questions. I have the code book right here and I’ll prewrite the questions on these cards in an ascending order of difficulty. I will make them pretty hard at the end there too! Agreed?”

“Do I get to know the prize before I hear the question?”

“No. You have to accept the next question without knowing the prize. The anticipation will be fun,” she said as he flashed him a wink that was anything but innocent. “Then, once you accept, I’ll tell you the question. Otherwise you’ll just give up at a hard question and still have a prize, which is no fun. This is kind of like positive reinforcement with a little punishment and mystery. If you get something wrong, then you do the punishment and the cycle starts again. Make sense?”

“Okay. Agreed.” “Great! Just give me a sec to write out some questions.”

A few minutes later, Y/N had prepared a bunch of questions; some asking for the definition of a code, others asking for the code itself. Once the game began, Daichi was quick to work himself up to the prize, _‘I’ll make you breakfast from scratch,’_ before he got it wrong and had to do 20 push-ups. Daichi swore he would never forget that answer again, which Y/N laughed at. “That’s the point of the game!”

The game continued and Daichi had worked his way up through some really tough questions, surprising even himself. The prizes that went by were things like, free lunch, carrying bags and the ever temping back massage. The most recent prize he won, was the coveted bathroom clean. Y/N had promised to clean the bathroom in Daichi’s share house. Although Suga is a clean freak and made sure the bathroom never got that bad, Daichi bet that is was unlikely for another prize to beat it’s value; bar another kiss from Y/N, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud.

“Okay, the next question is pretty hard...”

“Well, Bambi. I think I’ll stick with the bathroom prize. I don’t wanna lose that. Its gold.”

Y/N grins and blushes excessively at her new idea, “but I’ve got such a good prize for the next one.” She then used the cards in her hand to fan her flaming cheeks, pinkened by the implications. Her hair moved with the makeshift breeze as the blush creeped down to her chest.

“Damn…” he cursed. “What is it?”

“I’m not telling you until you accept the question. It’s going to be a hard one too, but you’ll like the prize… _a lot.”_

“Far out, Bambi. You’re making it sound so temping. You’re like blushing and everything.”

“I’m not blushing! It’s just… hot in here,” she retaliated as she continued to fan herself. 

Daichi watched a bead of sweat fall down the side of her beautifully flushed face and hit the top of her breast. The room began to feel ever hotter, his muscles tensed and heart rate increased. Summer was definitely coming but he felt hot for a whole different reason.

“You’re just making this sound _really_ tempting so that you win the next question and don’t have to clean the bathroom!”

“I would never!”

“Yes, you would.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“Pretty sure you are.”

Shaking her head with a flirtatious smile, dismissing his accusation, she continued, “Okay Daichi, you want the next prize or not?”

Daichi couldn’t help but think that the next prize is a kiss, because of the way she is blushing. He would risk losing the bathroom-cleaning prize and have to do a ton of push-ups, for even the smallest possibility of a single kiss with her. Especially now.  
_She is so alluring in her tight dress, while she looks all hot and bothered like that._

He took a deep breath in and exhaled as he caved and said ‘Okay. What is the question?”

“There’s no way you’re going to get it, Daichi. Really. You’ve basically lost already.”

“Well, then the prize better be frikkin’ amazing if I win.”

“HA! It is, but you’re not going to get it!”

“Just tell me what the prize is first! I have to know!”

“Okay. If you get this one right, which you _WON’T…”_ she assured him. “…Actually before I say, I’ll tell you the punishment. I won’t make this punishment that bad. You really won’t get it… If you get this one wrong, then you have to bring me coffee tomorrow before we go to the academy.”  
“And if it get it right...” Daichi pressed. At this point he was freaking out from the suspense. So much so, that he almost started trembling.

“If you get it right, then… I’ll give you a blow job,” she said with a honeyed voice before biting her lip.

Daichi, who’s completely shocked, choked on his own spit for a moment before he stared at her, blinking.

She bit her lip harder to stop from laughing at his reaction and looked into his eyes to gauge what he was thinking.

A few moments later, he took another breath “…Okay. What’s the question?”

“Wha… okay?” Now she was the one who was surprised. He seemed fine with her proposition. That or he knew he wouldn’t get it right. “What is radio code 402b?”

“Abandoned refrigerator,” he replied instinctively. He didn’t even think twice. 

Y/N’s face mirrored his from before, shock, “That…. That’s correct…”  
They were both staring at each other, wide eyed in astonishment. Then they started to grin, then snigger and then full on laughter. This eased a lot of the tension that Daichi had built up in his body.

Meanwhile, Y/N put down her question cards and moved over to join Daichi on the bed. He was resting his back against the bedhead, and she crawled over to positioned herself on his lap, straddling his thighs.

“Wait… What are you doing?”

“You got it right Daichi. If you didn’t want a blow job from me then you would’ve just not answered the question. Or purposefully got it wrong. It was an obscure question too, so you actually deserve a prize.” Her tone was playful as she moved her fingers slowly up and down his chest, before moving up his neck and into his hair. She readjusted herself to rest right in his lap before asking in mock disappointment, “What? You don’t like me Daichi?”

“No, no, no, no of course I do. I…I just don’t want you to think you have to do anything you don’t want to do.” He might have actually stopped breathing from her last words.

“Mmm, but Daichi.” She rocked her hips to create a little friction, earning a gasp from him. “I _want_ to taste you.”

He gulped at her declaration. Hard.

In Y/N’s movements to straddle his lap, the strap of her dress fell down. To buy himself some time before responding, Daichi ran his calloused fingers up her smooth arm, then over her shoulder to put it back. This is where he paused to caress her exposed collarbone. He wished he was taking off her clothes instead.

Y/N then grabbed his fingers, brought them to her mouth and started sucking on them. One by one, allowing him to feel the pressure of her lips and tongue as it swirled around each digit. She closed her eyes while doing this and it seemed like she was enjoying it as much as he was. He didn’t think he had seen anything as sexy as this in his whole life. It was pretty evident that Daichi was taking pleasure in this, because his hormones started to rage into overdrive. He became flushed, mouth agape and heart rate increased. His pants started tightening from the pressure of Y/N straddled on top.

Daichi cleared his throat, mind fuzzy and barely functioning. “Y/N,” he said in a whisper. “You… you… don’t have to do this.” 

In reply, Y/N removed his fingers from her mouth and then glided her own fingers down the front of his shirt. Reaching lower until she made it to the band of his sweatpants. As her fingers dipped slightly beneath the fabric, she leaned in close, hovering her lips above his and whispered, “A bet is a bet, Daichi. And rules are rules.” 

Daichi knew that quote was last used when she bought beers for everyone at the pub on their first day at the police academy. He found that thrilling. It reminded him that this wasn’t just some random chick toying with him. This was Y/N. This was _his_ Bambi. He couldn’t believe that this was really happening. In all the time he had known her, they had only mildly flirted, aside from that one kiss. Y/N was never as straight forward at this. 

Daichi’s eyes appreciated the features in front of him, before landing on her plump, slightly parted lips. He knew exactly what those lips felt like, so he licked his own in anticipation.

Her fingers, now fully under the fabric of his sweatpants, lightly palmed his erection over his boxer briefs, earning a solid moan in reply. She quickly closed the gap between their lips, silencing his cry.  
Daichi’s hands remained by his side, fingers digging in to the sheets until he relaxed into the kiss, enjoying the feeling as she sucked lightly on his lower lip. He moved his hands to grip her waist and relished in her flavour. She then moved her kisses along the sharp angle of his jaw, down his neck and licked at his Adam’s apple before returning to his lips once more. The caressing of his hardened manhood didn’t stop as she pulled away from the long and sweet kiss to whisper in his ear, “Daichi, let me taste you.” 

He absentmindedly nodded his head as he gaped at her with half lidded eyes. She then moved her hand out of his pants to tug at the waistband. In response to her silent request, he lifted his hips so that she could pull them down and get rid of the offending clothing.

The contour of his large erection was visible though his briefs. He hissed in pleasure at the returning contact of her hand, now causing him to test and strain the elastic qualities of his underwear.  
Satisfied with how things were progressing, she leaned in for another kiss as she lifted up his shirt a little to expose his hard chest. She grazed the expanse of taught skin with her nails and then stroked down the muscle of his well-defined abdomen. She teased her fingers down the enticing speckling of hair from just below his navel that disappeared into his briefs. She looked up to his face, to admire his handsomeness once more, before she continued to play. Daichi is now basically panting. 

Subsequently, Y/N shimmied herself down his body so that she could kiss his chest, then abdomen, then just below his belly button. She moved lower and lower. The next kiss to the tip of his clothed cock. He moaned her name at the contact. The warmth from her breath and the pressure of her lips felt amazing. She slipped her fingers beneath the band and pulled them down to just past his thighs, springing his cock free. He watched her as she licked her lips, taking in the sight of his length along with the drop of precum that leaked from the tip. 

He whimpered as she placed one hand around the base of his cock and the other to rest on his abdomen. Never breaking eye contact, she lowered her mouth to lick the underside of his shaft from the base all the way to the tip, which she kissed before taking him past her lips.  
“Oh, Y/N.” His mouth watered and his toes curled at the sight of her looking up at him with those doe eyes full of desire. He couldn’t help himself has he reached out to brush her hair aside for a better view.

She hummed once he was mostly in her mouth, sending tantalising vibrations through his whole body. To him her expression still looked so innocent; as if she didn’t have her lips wrapped around his cock and her tongue swirling around massaging the sensitive head. One of her hands gently cupped his tightening balls and fondled them as the other hand remained at the base of his thick cock. She struggled to fit the whole thing in her mouth, so she used her hand to satisfy what her lips couldn’t. He groaned from the incredible feeling. To Daichi, she looked too good to be true, whereas he thought he must look like a total panting mess. His heart pounding as he ran his ringers though her hair.

She bobbed her head a few more times before she took him in as far as she could. Hitting the back of her throat.

“Fuck,” he whispered. He couldn’t handle seeing her so sexy like this. She was still fully clothed but that didn’t matter. To him, she is perfect and beautiful, particularly when she looks at him like that with her lips wrapped around his cock.  
Her mouth felt so warm and wet...

Music started to play. 

It was a familiar song. The one he used as his alarm in the morning. 

His alarm.

 _FUCK!_ He opened his eyes to see that he was grasping his own hard cock under the sheets. _Shit, it was just a dream!_ Frustrated at his own dream arousal, he quickly removed his hand and reached over to turn off the ill-mannered alarm. He sat up in his bed, hands running though his hair in frustration while thinking, _What the fuck was that!_

He’d had sex dreams before and woken with a hard on, but this time it was about Y/N. One of his best friends that he has feelings for, AND it was really graphic. _That kiss yesterday really messed me up._

He was sure that Y/N didn’t feel the same way, completely oblivious to the fact that she had similar dream about him the night before.  
_God. I should have known better. I knew Y/N wouldn’t be that forward with me. She’s cheeky, sure. But she’d never offer up a blow job in a study question like that. Or at all!_

The way his mind drifted to her so easily in his dream could be owed to the fact that his pillow still smelt like her. He couldn’t deny that he didn’t change the sheets immediately after Y/N has slept in them the few days before. He liked how they smelt of her; fruity and sweet. He could tell which exact pillow she had preferred, because it took on the scent of her hair just as strongly.

Frustrated with being bamboozled by his own imagination, and sexually-frustrated by his still throbbing erection, he grabbed his clothes for the day and went to take a _long_ cold shower. 

As much as he would love to get off to the thought of Y/N finishing what she started in the dream, he had to see her in about an hour and if he did that, then he wouldn’t be able to look her in the eye. In addition, he couldn’t think of a single person who could get the job done in his mind, so he settled for cold, cold water. Self-control of a saint.

After taking so long to calm down in the shower, he entered the kitchen for coffee where Suga asked him if everything was okay.

“I kissed Bambi yesterday,” he mentioned while pouring out a mug for himself, as if it wasn’t big news.

“WHATTT!!!!!!!” Suga yelled, loud enough to wake the whole building. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME RIGHT AWAY!”

Daichi then began the story of yesterday’s events. He talked about how the kiss was to piss-off Michimiya and how Y/N had said they were _friends._ “Actually she said best-friends. So I _know_ she doesn’t return my feelings. So you should just drop this whole wingman thing that you’re doing.”

“Did you use tongue?” Suga asked, ignoring Daichi’s speech at how hopeless their romance was.

“A little bit…. it was amazing.”

“Wow. I’m actually impressed. I literally didn’t think you would ever do something like that.”

“Yeah, I remember you saying something to me like, _‘I’m not questioning your backbone. I’m denying is existence.’_ You’re pretty harsh sometimes, Suga.”

“Well I stand corrected!”

Suga, having a clear view of the situation from a somewhat outside perspective, explained that Y/N probably only mentioned friendship because he kissed her in front of Michimiya.  
“What else was she supposed to think. You guys were purposefully making your ex-girlfriend jealous and so Y/N obviously assumed the kiss was a part of it. Though it would have had the same effect on Bitchimiya if you hadn’t used tongue… but how was Bambi to know the tongue was for her?” 

Daichi shrugged at this question, taking in Suga’s point.

“She didn’t slap you, so she obviously didn’t mind the kiss. Plus, if Bokuto did that, he’d be dead. Like actually dead.”

“Well she did flip him pretty hard in judo that morning because he surprise-hugged her from behind.”

“That’s exactly my point. If it was anyone else who’d kissed her like that, she’d kick their ass. She likes you Daichi. You must know that. Everything you have told me doesn’t disprove my theory, nay… _FACT!”_

Daichi looked at his feet bashfully and nodded his head in hesitant agreement to Suga’s observation.

“Oh, also I have my dinner with Kiyoko tonight!” Suga exclaimed with a proud smile. “I’ll make sure to ask her if she has a friend for Bo.”

“Oh that’s right! Wait… Is it a date or just dinner?” asked Daichi, confused with the specifics.

“It’s a dinner-date..?”

“That doesn’t clear it up very much.”

“Yeah it’s not clear to me either. I’ll let you know when I know,” Suga chuckled.

“Well if you manage to pull it off as a proper date, then there’s going to be so many jealous guys from high school after you,” he joked.

“Not you though. You’ve got Bambi,” Suga replied with a wide grin.

“Not yet...”  
“That’s the spirit!” Suga cheered as he smacked Daichi on the back, not knowing his own strength and knocking the wind out of his friend.

This conversation cheered Daichi up immensely. He carried on with his day, hiding his embarrassment about the dream to anyone he encountered, especially Y/N. 

The group of friends from the academy came over every night that week to bone up for the tests on Friday. Daichi specifically invited the others to make sure that he wasn’t alone with Y/N. He wasn’t sure he could handle his hormones, especially in a studying setting that closely resembled his sex dream. So that meant that Kuroo and Bokuto were always around, not allowing Daichi much time to progress with Y/N. Which was fine anyway, because they all really needed to focus for the tests.

As it turns out, Suga had in fact gone on a _date-_ date with Kiyoko and it went really well. They are planning to see each other again on the coming Friday night drinks that the group is planning in celebration of finishing their mid-semester tests. 

On Thursday night, the eve before the tests, everyone (Kuroo, Bokuto, Y/N and Daichi) settled around Daichi’s coffee table, and quizzed each other on police codes. When Suga got home from work, he pulled Bokuto aside and told him about how Kiyoko has a friend who is looking to be set up. This was a little white lie because he knew how Bokuto would react to his friends setting him up with a girl due to pity. Bokuto, like the owl-looking puppy dog he is, became extremely excited and bounded around the apartment yelling his catch phrase, upon hearing the information.  
Unfortunately for Asahi, when Bokuto bounded into the kitchen, he knocked over an entire container of salt into the pot that the student-cook was working on.  
The group ordered in noodles for dinner.

During dinner, the entirety of the apartment sat down to eat. Daichi and Y/N were stealing bits of each other’s food while Kuroo egged them on for a food fight.  
“No food fights!” Asahi exclaimed. Then he added quietly, “Such a waste of food.”  
As dinner continues, Suga sees Daichi and Y/N being cute once again, so he takes a picture of Y/N feeding Daichi a piece of broccoli.

**CLICK!**

Shortly after, Kuroo sees the photo pop up in his group chat: ‘Operation Get Daichi to Confess’. Along with a short message.

Sugawara: I wonder if they will kiss again.

Kuroo: AGAIN!?!?! WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!! :O :O :O

Asahi: They kissed?! Why didn’t Daichi tell me?

Sugawara: Don’t feel bad guys. Daichi was embarrassed. They kissed to make Bitchimiya jealous when they ran into her somewhere. Bambi apparently didn’t think it meant anything which is probably why he didn’t tell you guys. 

Kuroo: THAT LITTLE SHIT! I’m kind of pissed he didn’t tell me, but I also.. I get it. Oh man, I bet he’s stewing because of that.

Asahi: Does Bokuto know?

Sugawara: Doubt it.

Kuroo: It’s okay. We’ll get Bo a nice girlfriend and he’ll forget all about it.

After dinner, the academy friends continued to memories police codes. When Y/N suggested making a game out of it, Daichi immediately choked on his tea.

Next Chapter: The Pub & Bitchimiya: Take two.


	16. The Pub & Bitchimiya: Take Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mid-semester tests are over and the group head to the pub to celebrate. Drama, drama, drama.

Chapter Sixteen: The Pub & Bitchimiya: Take Two.

The mid-semester tests are over and it’s a Friday night. Time for the gang to hit the pub for a celebration. The workload over the last week had been so exhausting, that a few drinks were almost a requirement to unwind. Even Daichi’s housemates were let in on the plans. The police academy students (Bokuto, Kuroo, Y/N and Daichi), went straight to the pub after their tests at the academy, eager to begin their celebration. Asahi and Suga, along with the plus-ones, Kenma and Kiyoko, stopped by a little later after their own commitments ended.

All the guys already knew Kiyoko from high school, but this was a first meeting for Y/N.  
Like everyone is when they meet Kiyoko for the first time, Y/N is amazed by her beauty. When they converse, her eye is drawn to the beauty mark on the lower left side of Kiyoko’s chin; Kind of similar to the way you would stare at someone’s teeth if they have spinach in it, but in an appealing way. The beauty of Kiyoko is amazingly mirrored by the beauty of Suga. Y/N couldn’t help but think that she would be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t agree that the pair would have incredibly beautiful babies.

Kiyoko spent a good amount of time chatting with Y/N, while the boys played pool in teams. Crows vs Cats plus Bokuto. The girls each nursed a drink and got to know each other. “So are you and Daichi together then?”

“What!? Umm, no. We’re just friends.” Y/N was assuring herself as much as she was Kiyoko.

Kiyoko seemed to be able to see straight thought Y/N’s rushed reply. She has known Daichi for a long time after all. Plus, she had been talking to Suga; the number one fan and wingman for Daichi and Y/N’s _‘relationship’._   
“But you have feelings for him, right?”

Y/N’s face now resembled that of a tomato and she became completely tongue tied. “Umm. W..well.. ahh..n..nn mn see, umm.”

Kiyoko found Y/N’s flustered reaction to the personal question amusing and she chuckled before adding, “Well, you guys seem really close. I’ve known Daichi a long time and I don’t think he ever looked this affectionate with Michimiya. He’s never really been the smitten kind of guy, but he looks like he really adores you.”

“Oh that’s right. I keep forgetting that you all went to school together. It’s pretty nice that you and Suga reconnected.”

“Smooth,” Kiyoko laughed. “You’re trying to change the subject, Bambi. I know you don’t want to talk about it but I really think you and Daichi would be great together.”

Y/N was then saved by the Bo. Bokuto sat down with them and excitedly joined the conversation after winning his pool game.  
“So Kiyoko. Tell me more about this girl that you said requested my charming presence for a date.”  
Now Y/N was relieved for two reasons. She didn’t have to discuss her ‘non-relationship’ with Kiyoko, and she wouldn’t have to reject Bokuto; which was a huge weight off because she wasn’t sure if her friendship with Bokuto could survive that talk. In fact, she wasn’t sure any of her friendships could survive something like that, including Daichi.

Y/N was then invited to join a game of pool with Daichi as her partner. As it happens, they work pretty well together and once their round of pool had been won, Daichi picked her up and swung Y/N around in a celebratory hug. Y/N giggled uncontrollably, while Kuroo asked Daichi to do it again so he could get it on video. Which he did and promptly sent to the _‘Operation Get Daichi to Confess’_ group chat. 

As the night progressed, some of the group became a little tipsy and the conversations were booming with jokes and laughter. Upon hearing that Kiyoko had plans to go home to Miyagi for the weekend, Suga (the tipsiest of them all), said, “I have such a good idea! Summer starts tomorrow, so let’s get the train to Miyagi and use Daichi’s pool. Plus, my family has been begging me to visit because I can’t make it on my actual birthday. Which is on the 13th, in case you guys forgot. Let’s all go!”

A chorus of agreements was heard by both Asahi and Daichi, the other original residents of Miyagi.  
“Bambi, you should come with us!” suggested Suga as he wrapped his arms around his best-friend’s shoulders.

“What! Oh I dunno guys.”

“Yeah come with us!” agreed Daichi. “Plus, if we go without you then my Mum will probably drive up here to get you herself. She did say she wanted to squish your cute cheeks or something like that.”

“What?” Y/N laughed. “When did she say that?”

“Daichi talks about you to his Mum all the time,” Suga dobbed, which earnt a hard elbow to his ribcage. Y/N couldn’t help but laugh at her fair-haired friend’s tipsy behaviour. It was evident that Suga was a lightweight considering he hadn’t drunk as much as the other men, but had very rosy cheeks and a little slur to his words.

“You can stay at my place!” suggested Daichi, ignoring Suga’s poor attempt at putting him in a chokehold. “My siblings are staying on the university campus so you can have one of their rooms. Plus, my Mum is really lonely without all the kids. She will want to adopt you just like she does with Suga and Asahi.”

“She really is like the neighbourhood Mum,” agreed Asahi, as if Y/N needed more convincing.

“I’m texting her now. She’ll be so happy!”

“…but..”

“No excuses, Bambi. You’ll go with us. Plus, like you said before, if you come then Kiyoko is sure to wear a bikini by the pool too,” the silver-haired man insisted with an exaggerated wink.

“I KNEW YOU WERE BEING PERVY THAT DAY!” she exclaimed while remembering the time Suga suggested they all went to the beach together. “Okay, fine I’ll go. But are you sure it’s not too much trouble? It’s such late notice for your mum, Daichi.”

Daichi laughed at Y/N’s bashful response since he just received an excitable and speedy reply from his mother, who seemed to be ecstatic that she will be having visitors. He showed the message to Y/N which eased some of her worries about imposing on his family time.

“Great! It’s settled! We’ll take the morning train and then come back Sunday afternoon. But now, I think it’s time for another round of drinks. Suga come help me carry them.”

Daichi then walks the short distance to the bar with Suga in tow, and orders a round of drinks. Daichi, while waiting for his order, leaned his back against the bar to watch Y/N laughing with the others. Until Suga couldn’t hold his tongue. “You should stop dancing around your feelings, Daichi. What happened to you trying to be more proactive with her?”

But like a bad joke, Suga didn’t get the answer to his question because ‘Satan herself’ (as the boys called her sometimes) blindsided them both with an unwanted appearance.

“What do you want, Michimiya?” Daichi cautioned.

They didn’t see that in the few moments before Michimiya had walked up to bar, she had taken a detour past Y/N to smirk at her menacingly. She gave the look that said she was up to something, which she was.

“Oh, Daichi. Don’t be like that,” she cooed. “I just wanted to talk to you… in private.” She aimed that last part towards Suga.

“Hell no. I am not leaving. Don’t want to leave my boy alone with a vampire like you,” he snapped with slightly slurry words.

“Geez, Suga. Calm down. It’s okay. Just take these drinks and I’ll meet you back at the table.” Daichi’s suggestion earned a concerned look from Suga before he obeyed and took what he could carry back to their group in the corner.

“Like I said… What do you want?” Daichi reiterated bluntly. He was in no mood to deal with her drama.

“I guess I’ll cut to the chase then.” Michimiya leaned in closer to him so she didn’t have to compete with the noise of the pub. Suga, who had speedily dropped the drinks off at the table, raced back to be within ear range of their conversation. He took a seat at the bar, a few feet behind Daichi and remained unnoticed.

“Daichi. I miss you.” He scoffed at her announcement. “No, I really do, Daichi. I love you. We shouldn’t have ended like that. And I _know_ you still love me too. Why else would you try to make me jealous with that rude girl from the ramen shop? That idiot couldn’t even get my name right.”

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, Michimiya. You’re the one who cheated on me!”

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry. It will never happen again! It’s just, you were always so busy and…”

“No, that’s enough. I really don’t want to hear it.” He picked up the last two drinks from the bar and got ready to return to his group.

“Is this because of that slut!” Michimiya desperately questioned while pointing towards Y/N’s general direction.

“Don’t call her that! She is the nicest, sweetest and most beautiful girl I’ve ever met and you don’t get to say that about her. We are _NEVER_ getting back together, Michimiya. You lied and cheated and broke my fucking heart. And even if I wasn’t in love with Y/N, then there _STILL_ wouldn’t be anything between us!”

Daichi could hear two gasps in response to his declaration of love. One from Michimiya, standing closely in front of him, and the other from over his shoulder. As he turned his head to get a glimpse of who the other shocked response was from, Michimiya gained his attention once more.

“Wait… You love her?”

Daichi, thinking back to what he said moments ago, realised that he did in fact did say that he was in love with Y/N. And he meant it. Which was shocking to him because he wasn’t 100% sure that he had; until now.

“Yeah. I do,” he said softly with a gentle smile, still thinking about how much his feelings had grown over the time he had known Y/N. They had become really close. Even though he had been pining after her since the day they first met, he wasn’t sure that he would have fallen in love with her as fast, had they not started out as friends. “She’s my best-friend,” he added.

Another gasp (that sounded a little offended) was heard from over his shoulder and again he turned his head to see who it was, but was stopped by his conversation partner once again. This time she declared, in a strident voice, “I don’t believe you!”   
Michimiya then grabbed either side of his face and forced him into a one-sided passionate kiss, which resulted in her biting his lip as he struggled to free himself, hands still full with drinks. 

Meanwhile, Y/N, who is setting up the pool table with Kiyoko, witnesses the kiss. Her heart stops and sinks into her stomach. Her world becomes a dizzying haze of confusion and panic. Kiyoko, who also saw what happened, became increasingly concerned for Y/N and called out to see if she is alight. Y/N whips her body around, not being able to watch the train wreck for longer than a second, and drops the hefty pool ball from her hand, right on to her foot.   
Now her foot, along with her heart, is in pain. She couldn’t quite understand what was happening, but it felt like her heart was breaking all over again. Kiyoko and her quick thinking, offers to take Y/N straight to the doctor to get her foot checked out. Bokuto rushes over to support her weight, but she insists she is okay, even though she is balancing on her good foot.

“Guys, I’m fine,” Y/N mumbled with tearful eyes. “I think I’ll just go home now and ice it.”

“Good idea. I have my car here and I only had a small drink ages ago so I can drive you home. Bo, can you help me get her to my car?” Kiyoko instructed Bokuto to support Y/N around her waist as they made their way to her car. 

Y/N didn’t wait to see how the situation between Daichi and Michimiya played out as she tried to hold back tears in the car ride home. She wasn’t there to witness Daichi pouring the drinks he was holding all over Michimiya in an attempt to get her to stop. 

“What the fuck!” Michimiya squealed while making a pathetic fanning motion over her drenched top, that was obviously not going to help her get dry.

“Don’t fucking kiss me. You bit my lip for god sake. What is wrong with you! In what world did you think I would want you to do that! You’re an actual psycho!”

“What the hell, Bitchimiya! You can’t just do that!” Suga raced over and was now at Daichi’s side. “Shit, Daichi, your lip is bleeding.”

Daichi put the empty glasses down on the bar and grabbed a napkin for his bleeding lip, while Michimiya poorly defended her actions.

“Just get out of here Michimiya. You’re so self-absorbed. I want nothing to do with you!”

By the time Michimiya had left, and the boys returned to the group (with Daichi still holding a napkin to his lip), they realised that Kiyoko and Y/N weren’t there. Without answering the bombardment of questions from his friends about what happened at the bar, Daichi asked, “Where are the girls?”

“Well, Y/N saw that kiss and looked pretty surprised, we all were actually, and she dropped a pool ball on her foot. I dunno if she was upset by the kiss or by the pain in her foot but she looked a bit teary,” Kuroo stated while wrapping his arm around his boyfriend, Kenma in an absentminded attempt to shield him from the drama.

“Yeah, I helped Y/N to Kiyoko’s car outside. She’s driving her home to ice her foot. I honestly thought it might be broken, but she says its fine,” added Bokuto.

“Shit,” cursed Daichi, while pulling out his phone to call Y/N. 

“Calm down, Daichi. It was pretty obvious to everyone that the kiss wasn’t mutual. I’m sure Y/N’s fine,” assured Suga while patting his panicked friend on the back.

Bokuto’s face displayed confusion at Suga’s statement and asked, “Wait, what happened? You didn’t kiss her back?” 

“No! What the hell!” Daichi snapped, projecting his anger at the wrong person. “Why the hell would I do that?! Wait… did it look like I did?”

“Well I didn’t see. We were a bit distracted by Y/N’s foot.”

“Damn it!” Daichi panicked. “She’s not answering her phone.”

This time it was Kenma, the quietest but most observant of the bunch, to contribute to the discussion. “It looked like she saw the kiss, then freaked out and dropped the pool ball on her foot. She didn’t see you throw that drink at Michimiya or the argument after. By that point she was already out the door with Bo and Kiyoko. As Kuroo said, she did look pretty upset, but it’s hard to say if it was the kiss or the pain from the pool ball. Might even be a bit of both. Plus, she’s probably not answering her phone because she’s busy with Kiyoko. I don’t think you need to worry because this is all easily explained.”

Daichi let out a long breath, easing a little of his anxieties because of Kenma’s observation.  
“Thanks, Kenma. Okay I’m gunna go to her place and make sure she’s okay.”

It didn’t take long for Y/N to get home, thanks to Kiyoko. She was set up on the couch with a blanket and an icepack before Kiyoko left. Y/N was quick to call Sora to vent about what had happened, which is why she was unable to answer Daichi’s calls.

“Y/N, maybe you shouldn’t get involved with someone who is still close with their ex.”

“Well, I don’t know if he is exactly _close_ with her...”

“But, you just said they kissed?”

“Yeah… I guess. Damn it. Why does it feel like I got cheated on all over again? He’s not even my boyfriend.”

Seeing the kiss had Y/N thinking that she might have misinterpreted her whole relationship with Daichi. She thought that if she misread the whole situation with her ex-boyfriend then it would be easy to misread Daichi too. Especially if he was seen kissing his ex-girlfriend.  
 _Daichi doesn’t actually like me. The way he acts is just him being friendly._   
In her mind, she continued to disqualify all the positive things about her relationship with Daichi. She made excuses for every flirty moment or touch and convinced herself that her feelings were unrequited.

 _Why would someone as perfect as him be into me like that. That’s why I was cheated on. I’m not a good enough person and I don’t have many people in my life for a reason. I just don’t deserve them. And the second someone shows me kindness, I think it’s because they might have feelings for me. Who am I kidding? I couldn’t even tell my boyfriend that I loved him back then. No wonder why he cheated. It was my fault and I should have seen it coming._

Y/N continued to berate herself with unwarranted negative thoughts until Sora snapped her out of it.   
“Y/N. Breath. You’re okay. Breath or you’ll work yourself into a full anxiety attack. You feel this way because you like him a lot and you thought there was something more than friendship between you two. It’s understandable that you feel betrayed having not known what happened after their kiss. I think you should talk to him about it. And before you say it, I know it might be awkward. But you can’t write him off having not heard what he has to say. It might not have been what it looked like. I mean, you said yourself that you left pretty quickly.”

“Okay. I guess…” Y/N was interrupted by a loud and steady knock at her door. “Umm, there’s someone at my door. Can you hang on a sec? I’ll just go see who it is.”

Y/N placed the icepack on the coffee table, got up and hobbled over to the front door. Her foot was painful to stand on, and a pool-ball sized bruise had already begun to appear on her slightly swollen foot. It took her a while to reach the door, so she heard the knocking again accompanied by Daichi’s voice calling out her name.

“It’s Daichi. What do I do?” she whispered to Sora, still on the line.

“Answer it and talk to him.” 

Without hanging up, Y/N took a deep breath and opened to door to see a worried Daichi. He immediately threw his arms around her in a tight hug. “Bambi! Are you okay? The guys said you hurt yourself!”

“Yeah umm, I’m fine.” She wriggled out of the hug and then told Sora she would call back later, before hanging up. “What are you doing here, Daichi?”   
She didn’t mean to sound blunt, but her question just came out that way; though, Daichi seemed prepared for it.

“I was worried about you. How’s your foot? Oh geez, you should be sitting down. Let me help you to the couch.”

“I’m okay, Daichi. I can manage.”

“I know you can manage by yourself but you don’t’ have to. Y/N, I’m here because I care about you.”

Daichi’s sincerity affected her more than she cared to admit, so she hid her emotions with a clearing of her throat before she accepted his assistance to the couch.

“You were on the phone to Sora?”

“Yeah,” she spoke softly. She didn’t think she could talk in a normal volume at this point or she might just start crying. Things had seemed to build up inside and her emotions had reached a peak. She sat on the couch with Daichi’s help and he returned the icepack to her injured foot, placing it in his lap carefully as he joined her.

“Did you see what happened with Michimiya?” he asked tentatively, not looking her in the eye. The situation with Michimiya wasn’t his fault but he couldn’t help but feel guilty. Whether it hurt Y/N’s feelings or not, she still ended up with an injured foot.

“Not really. I was distracted by the pool ball landing on my foot.”

“Oh. Okay...” Daichi became further discouraged by her blunt tone. Again, she didn’t mean to speak to him like that, but she currently had little control over her emotions.

“Are you guys getting back together then?”

“What!!? Hell no. That woman is the devil. I’m pretty sure she just kissed me to upset you. She thinks were dating and she probably wanted to get back at you after the ramen shop. I’m guessing you didn’t see me throw that drink on her. She frikkin’ bit me!” he explained animatedly as he pointed to his injured lip. “She’s a damn psycho. No idea what happened to her. She used to be nice.” 

Y/N couldn’t help herself, she reached forward and ran her thumb lightly over his swollen lip as if to inspect it. It wasn’t bleeding anymore but it was a little bruised.  
The touch was surprising to Daichi because Y/N had been so cold towards him since he arrived, yet her touch was so gentle and soothing.

“Wow. That’s pretty vengeful of her considering she was the one to treat you like shit in the first place. We shouldn’t have tried to make her jealous. It just egged her on. I guess that’s why the say revenge isn’t worth it.” Y/N withdrew her hand and turned a little pink, having realised that she was caressing the face of a real person. 

“Yeah,” he breathed out with relief that Y/N didn’t seem upset anymore. “Let’s just forget about her. I think I made it pretty damn clear that she needs to leave me alone. Good riddance. Now, let me have a better look at your foot. Does it hurt much?”

“Umm, it’s okay. Hurts to walk a little but it mostly just looks bad.”

“Yeah, it looks bad. I bet you’re down playing it too. I can see you’re in pain. Can’t hide it from me, Bambi.”

“That’s because you’re a good friend.”

 _Friend._  
That hurt Daichi a bit, but it’s not like she hasn’t said that before. And his other friends assure him that it doesn’t mean they aren’t more. So he just smiled politely in reply.

“Look, Daichi. I don’t think I should go to Miyagi with you guys tomorrow.” Seeing the flash of hurt in his eyes, she explained further, leaving out the part about how she needed to let her feelings cool down before she continued with their friendship. Y/N decided that’s all she could handle at the moment; just friendship.  
“I don’t want to be a bother, especially with my foot. And I don’t want to impose on your family and take away from your time with them. You barely get to see them Daichi and I know how much your family means to you.”

“Oh come on, Bambi. That’s a terrible excuse. If you really don’t want to come that’s fine, but I can’t promise that my mum wont drive over here to get you. She’s expecting us to both go and we’ll both never hear the end of it if you don’t come. You’ll stay at my house and my siblings won’t be there, so you’ll have a room all to yourself. Plus, Suga and Asahi will be disappointed of you don’t come with us. Kiyoko too. You guys seemed to make friends pretty easily. Please, please, please come to Miyagi with us. You can still chill in the pool with your sore foot and….”

“Okay! Okay, Daichi I get it. I’ll go. Geez, how long would you have begged for if I didn’t stop you.”

“Oh, Please Bambi,” he scoffed. “I would have annoyed you until you caved, and it didn’t take long at all. I know you want to go because it will be a nice little break from the city.”

“Fair enough,” she sighed with a gentle smile.

Daichi stayed and order in dinner for them both as they watched a movie. At some point Daichi had received a text from Suga, asking if everything was okay. The message also mentioned that he overheard his declaration of love, and heard him called Y/N his best-friend, which he insisted he will talk to Daichi about later. 

They remained on the couch until very late when Y/N started to dose off. It had been a pretty emotionally exhausting day from all the drama, and an equally exhausting week due the volume of studying. Daichi helped her to bed and promised he’d be back early in the morning to help her pack and get to the train station, before he went home.

Next Chapter: Weekend in Miyagi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled with this chapter a little and it took me a longer then normal to get it right.   
> I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading!!  
> (ᵒ̴̶̷̤́◞౪◟ ᵒ̴̶̷̤̀ )


	17. Weekend in Miyagi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the weekend. They in Miyagi. Summer time pool fun. Also a guest appearance by some old friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter, readers. My brain was fried so I had to reboot it by watching almost the entire Bon Appetite channel on YouTube over a couple of days. Shout out to the other BA fans. Wooo!
> 
> This chapter is a long one, and would have been even longer if I didn’t split it in two! The next part to this chapter will be posted in a couple of hours after I finish polishing it.  
> Thanks for being patient and I hope you like this chapter!!!  
> ヽ(^◇^*)/

Chapter Seventeen: Weekend in Miyagi.

The scent of coffee wafted through the air of Daichi’s shared apartment. As usual, the gremlin-like, sleepy housemates made their way into the kitchen to partake in their caffeine ritual.   
It’s Saturday morning and the trio of friends are all slightly hungover, (Suga more so than the others). If they were able to sleep in more, then they would, but they had plans to catch the train to Miyagi for the weekend to see their families. 

Lucky for Daichi, he had been saved from any discussions about the happenings with Y/N from the night before, due of Suga’s hangover; but as the caffeine started to defrost his mind, the discussion began.

“So a little _birdy_ told me you actually _LOVE_ Bambi. And that birdy was you. I mean, I heard you say it. To Bitchimiya… I also heard you call Bambi your best-friend…”   
A little gasp of surprise could be heard from Asahi as Suga started off the conversation full throttle, with his usually sass while sipping on his drink. His tone hinted a little bit of annoyance but none of it was real. Sure Suga was surprised to hear Daichi confess his love for Y/N to Michimiya, before telling himself or Y/N, but he was also happy that his friend was in love to begin with. However, hearing Daichi refer to Y/N as his best-friend, did cause him a small amount of concern. He has been Daichi’s best-friend since they bonded over volleyball in high school and they relied on each other a lot. He hoped that he wouldn’t lose his own best-friend in this whole match-making process.

Asahi, also sitting around the kitchen island with his own drink, is completely out of the loop in regards to Suga’s statement. He was surprised to hear it, but also not surprised, because he also knows Daichi pretty well and he can tell that his dark-haired friend is a whole different kind of happy when Y/N is around.

“Uhh, yeah I guess I did say that…” Daichi clears his throat, rubs the back of his neck, then questions, “Wait! How did you hear that? You were delivering drinks to the table.”

“Oh, please! I dropped those drinks off so fast and sat behind you so I could hear the whole thing. You underestimate me Daichi! I was just looking out for you because I could tell Bitchimiya just wanted to cause drama. She had that crazy look in her eye!” Suga defended having seen Daichi’s reaction to his snooping. “Don’t change the topic either. I want to know what you have to say about it all.”

“Well, you can’t be surprised at this, Suga,” chimed in Asahi as he re-tied his messy man-bun. “Haven’t you noticed. Daichi used to dive head first into studying and volleyball and we often had to pull him out of it so that he didn’t work himself to the bone. But since Y/N came into the picture, he’s been able to take time to relax. He is just… happier.”

“You’re right. I have noticed that. I’m not so much surprised that he is in love with her… It’s just… as long as he doesn’t forget his roots, you know? As long as he knows who is long-time best buddies are.”

Daichi couldn’t help but smile and appreciate his friends. No one could ever replace them. They had all been through so much together. “Guys, you’re still my best-friends. Just because Y/N is around, doesn’t mean I don’t love you guys any less.”

“Awww, Daichi! You love us!” cooed Suga teasingly with his hand over his heart.

“Shut up, Suga.” Daichi deadpanned at the teasing and then finished off his coffee before getting ready to go. He threw Y/N a text to let him know he’d be heading over soon and poured some more coffee into a travel mug to give to her.

It was decided that, due to Y/N’s injury the night before, the group would share a taxi to the train station rather than walking to the bus stop. Daichi was more than happy to volunteer his help to support Y/N with any walking they would do. Kiyoko will take the same train as them but since she lived further away, it made sense to just meet her at the station. The train would take a couple of hours to get to Miyagi, so their arrival would be before noon. Then they would separate to their own homes briefly, before meeting back up in the afternoon for a swim and some lunch at Daichi’s childhood home.

By the time Daichi had arrived at Y/N’s apartment, she was ready to go, albeit exhausted. She wasn’t hungover like some of the others, as she didn’t have as much to drink, but the stress from all that had happened in the last week, (tests and Michimiya) had caught up with her. She woke up from one of her stress dreams last night and couldn’t get back to sleep. She also sported a large deep purple bruise on her foot which she insists is just that, and not broken; Even though it hurt to put all of her weight on it.

Daichi initially assumed that her withdrawn demeanour was due to a hangover, so he handed her the coffee filled travel mug before checking that her foot was okay to travel with. He then carried her backpack and supported some of her weight while he helped her down to the awaiting taxi.

Y/N had a few different thoughts running through her mind when she saw Daichi that morning.   
The first being, _do NOT think about him in a romantic way._   
She had made up her mind the night before, that she couldn’t handle a relationship at the moment. Even though Daichi confirmed his disinterest in his ex-girlfriend, she wasn’t confident that things would work out with him if she pursued him in a romantic way.   
The sensible advice she received from Sora helped with her decision as well.  
“One should be comfortable with themselves before entering in a relationship with another.”  
And Y/N is far from comfortable with herself, whether it due to the insecurities caused by her ex-boyfriend’s infidelity, or due to her emotional depravity from not being around family. 

The second thing she thought when Y/N saw Daichi was, _he is the kindest, sweetest and most gorgeous man I’ve ever met._ Which kind of threw her last, more despondent thought, out the window. Daichi had a knack for brightening up Y/N’s life, while making her feel important and accepted.

So she joined Daichi in in the taxi, along with Asahi and Suga, and made their way to the train station to meet Kiyoko to begin their journey to Miyagi.

When the group of friends finally reached their destination, it was clear that summer had begun. Due to Miyagi’s distance from the city, and it’s large open fields, it was easy to see the sun’s effect on nature. The plants seemed more vibrant, the air fresher, and the entire town emitted an energy as if the whole country-side thrives best in the summer sun. It really is the perfect day to organise a pool party between friends.

At the train station in Miyagi, Asahi, Suga and Kiyoko went their separate ways to visit their families. Suga, especially, had pressure to check in with his family as this was his only opportunity to see them before his birthday passed by. Daichi and Y/N took their own taxi and headed for the Sawamura household. Y/N felt more rested since the train ride as she took a cheeky nap, resting on Daichi’s shoulder; Suga was sure to take a picture for the group chat. However, now that Y/N was out the front of Daichi’s childhood home, she was a little panicked and hesitant to enter. 

Daichi, being the ever so sweet and observant bean that his is, squeezed Y/N’s waist reassuringly, as he helped her walk to the front door.   
“Bambi, you don’t need to be worried about this. You’ve already met my Mum on facetime and she adores you, just like everyone else you meet. Just keep being yourself… except try not to fall over or drop anything on your foot. Okay?”

Y/N, for once, appreciated the joke as it calmed her down and made her feel ready to enter the house. Daichi took out his key, unlocked the door, helped Y/N inside and called out, “We’re home!”

It wasn’t long before a short, dark haired and visibly joyous woman, bounded towards the home’s entrance to greet her long-awaited guests.

Daichi had to leave Y/N to lean against a half wall that divided the entryway from the living room, so as to accept the crushing, but loving hug from his mother.   
“My sweet boy is home! Oh my goodness, you’re bigger Daichi! Stop growing or I won’t be able to hug you properly anymore!”

“Wait. Are you saying I’m fat?” Daichi asked worriedly with a furrowed brow. He didn’t think he was getting any bigger, and he hadn’t gained too much height since he left high school.

“No, no, Honey. I mean, you’re wider but you’re not fat. You’ve just been working out too much. Be careful because girls don’t like men too muscular. I heard the _‘Dad-bod’_ is in!” Mrs Sawamura used air quotes when referring to the term she had heard from one of her friends. Daichi couldn’t help a chuckle, then turn his head to give Y/N a look that showed his amusement from his mother’s statement.

Following the direction of Daichi’s gaze, she cried, “Oh my god, it’s Bambi! She’s even more adorable in person!”   
Mrs Sawamura let go of Daichi, a little vigorously and basically cast him aside, to scoop her arms around Y/N for an energetic hug. Y/N, who was intending to bow politely with her official greeting, shyly returned the hug. She was shocked at loving affection that she seemed to earn so easily from Daichi’s mother. 

“It’s so good to officially meet you Mrs Sawamura. I’ve been looking forward to it. Thank you so much for having me for the weekend. I hope it’s not too much trouble.”

“Oh, nonsense Bambi! And please call me Okaasan! That’s what Daichi’s other friends call me. And if you’re all not careful, I’ll adopt you all as my child too!” She replied as she grabbed one of Y/N’s cheeks to pinch it affectionately.

“Mum!” Daichi quietly whined. He was trying to communicate that she may have crossed the line at the mention of adoption. He wasn’t exactly sure if Y/N was officially adopted by Sora, but he didn’t want to cause her any discomfort from mentioning the subject. Y/N talked about Sora a lot, but didn’t delve into much detail when it came to areas pertaining to her parent’s death.

Y/N, however, thought that the cheerful mother-figure was rather charming. “Thank you Mrs Sawamura. I mean Okaasan! Asahi and Suga did inform me that you are like the unofficial mother of the crows.”

Okaasan, who was obviously touched by the sentiment, place her hand over her heart and said, “They said that? Oh how sweet! Where are they? I thought they were joining us?”

“They went home first, but they will be over shortly for lunch and a swim. Its already pretty hot out there,” Daichi replied while gesturing to the sun shining through the window of the living room. “Mind if I take the car to go get some things to cook everyone for lunch?”

“No need, dear. I took care of it. Gives us more time to spend together. I have food for BBQ that is ready to go when they get here. Now, Bambi. Let me show you where you’ll be staying.” She then leads the way up the stairs on the right. “Are you sure that you kids aren’t going to share a bed? You know I don’t have a problem with- “

“MUM!” Daichi interrupted, covering his face in embarrassment while Y/N snickered behind her hand. “I told you! We’re just friends.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart. But if I were you, I’d snatch this one up quick. You don’t meet girls like her every day!” She exclaimed as she guided the limping Y/N, with Daichi in tow, into the bedroom of her only daughter. “You don’t have a boyfriend… or a girlfriend do you Bambi?”

The embarrassment that Daichi displayed is pretty hilarious according to Y/N, so she laughed and shook her head to indicate to Okaasan that she is, in fact, single. This earned a cheeky wink from the mother figure before they exited the room. 

“I hope Daichi’s sister’s room is comfortable for you. She is staying at the university campus and my babies rarely visit me. You see, they leave their poor old mother alone and…”

“No need for the guilt trip, Mum. Or at least save it for the other guys who aren’t even here. The campus isn’t even that far. I think it’s pretty stupid that they don’t stay here.”

“Fair enough, Daichi. I’m just glad you’re home! I missed you!” Mrs Sawamura then began to shower her son in little kisses all over his face as he tried to bat her away. He is the oldest of her three kids but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t still her baby.

Shortly after the tour of the house, the doorbell chimed indicating that the others had arrived. Daichi left his mother to answer the door, as he helped Y/N back up the stairs so she could change into appropriate clothing for their lunch-time pool party. She was quick to change into her two-piece swimsuit, topped with her trusty sarong and a t-shirt for some sun protection. She hobbled over to the door where Daichi was waiting and he helped her back downstairs. 

“You don’t have to do this, Daichi. I can manage. The stairs have a balustrade. Plus, my foot doesn’t even hurt that bad,” she tried to persuade Daichi with a furrowed brow.

“Yeah right, Bambi. Talk to me when you stop wincing every time you try to put weight on it. You can try and be brave anywhere but the stairs. You’ll crack your head open in you fall.”

Y/N didn’t have a rebuttal, so instead she gave him a pout and huffed at her defeat.

Daichi’s childhood home isn’t very big, but compared to the city, real-estate in Miyagi is significantly larger. There is a room for Mrs Sawamura and each of her kids, and a medium sized pool to the side of a small but lovely garden. 

Everyone (Asahi, Kiyoko, Suga, Daichi and Y/N) made their way outside as Okaasan insisted they swam _before_ eating so that no one would get stomach cramps and drown.

Suga was trying to play it cool with seeing Kiyoko in a bikini, so much so that he wasn’t. He couldn’t help but stare whenever she wasn’t looking, and then get flustered every time she caught him. He also didn’t want Y/N to see him starting at Kiyoko because he knew she would call him a pervert in front of everyone.

Even though Y/N thinks that Kiyoko is basically a model, she still felt better about wearing a bikini in the presence of the boys with her new friend around. She figured the attention would be on Kiyoko rather than her, which alleviated some of her stresses. The boys all sported swimming trunks and Asahi had let his hair down. They all applied sunscreen while trying not to laugh too hard at Y/N struggling to get to the pool with her own stubbornness.

At this point in the day, Y/N became frustrated over her lack of mobility. As much as she liked being close to Daichi all the time, independence is something that she takes pride in. So she, ironically, stood up for herself and tried make it to the pool unassisted. 

By the time she arrived at the pool side, most of the group were already in. She comedically fumbled when trying to sit down on the paving. This was her way of avoiding having to wobble on one foot while she removed her t-shirt and applied sunscreen.   
Having not thought this through completely, she now needed a way to stand without assistance. Daichi, who remained nearby in case she needed help, tried to hide his amusement at her head-strong behaviour with a hand to cover his giggles. Y/N eventually caved and accepted his help to get back on her feet. 

Only after she started to make her way towards the water, did Daichi point out that she was still wearing her sarong. Once again, Daichi tried to hide his amusement as she balanced herself on one foot while trying to untie the knot on her hip. 

Unable to continue witnessing Y/N’s struggle any longer, he grabbed her hands and placed them on his bare chest so she could support herself and stop swaying. Daichi then untied the knot of her sarong for her; lightly reddening in his cheeks as he realised that he was, in a way, undressing her. 

Y/N was too distracted at the feeling of his chiselled and warm chest beneath her fingers to even notice Daichi’s embarrassment. She reflected on how there happens to be something so masculine about everything he does and the way he moves. His appeal not only comes from his physical attributes but his personality as well. She still couldn’t comprehend why anyone would want to cheat on someone so perfect. 

Once the knot was untied, he reached behind her to grab the other end of the sarong, to stop it from falling to the ground. The close proximity of Daichi’s body to her own, had her warming up and the urge to jump into the cool pool water increase.   
Suga was annoyed that he didn’t have his phone on him to capture the awkward beauty that is Y/N and Daichi’s relationship. He gave Kiyoko some playful side-eye and called out to Daichi, “JUST CARRY HER IN ALREADY!”

Daichi placed Y/N’s sarong with her shirt on the paving, flashed her a wide grin and then scooped her up in his arms to carry her towards the water, bridal style. At this point Y/N started to panic. “Oh my god, Daichi! If you throw me in the water, I will end you!”

“DO IT!” cried out Suga from the water, which earned a splash to the face by Kiyoko in a show of solidarity for her fellow female.

“Calm down Bambi. I just couldn’t bear to watch you struggle anymore. You’re too stubborn for your own good and I know your foot still hurts. I’m not going to throw you in. Stop wriggling!”

Y/N clung to Daichi like her life depended on it, praying that he wouldn’t drop her in the water. Instead, Daichi set her down gently at the end of the pool by the steps. He held her hands to steady her as he stepped onto the first step in the water. 

“I didn’t want to drop you on the steps,” he explained as he pulled her forward slightly, picked her up by the waist and then lowered her on to the step beside him. Y/N’s reaction to his thoughtfulness and strength had her just gawking at his soft smile and kind chocolate-brown eyes. Daichi could tell she was a bit flustered which made him more smug than anything. It was fun for him to see Y/N like this.

“There you go. Safe and sound.”

“Thanks…” she replied softly then looked around the pool so as to avoid direct eye contact with Daichi. She can’t help but be deeply attracted to him, even though she doesn’t think she’s ready to be in a relationship. She doesn’t necessarily think that Daichi returns her feelings in the same way, but it did cross her mind a couple of times, especially when he behaves this way.

“About time, Bambi. I honestly thought you weren’t ever going to make it!” Suga joked.

“Shut up,” Y/N murmured as she sat down on steps in the water.

“Things are a lot quieter without Bokuto or Kuroo. I kind of got used to them being loud all the…” at this exact moment, Asahi was interrupted by the back door to the house flying open loudly.

“WHAT’S UP NERDS! YOU MISS ME?!” Yelled a loud mouthed, shaved-headed man as he ran out the door. He whipped his shirt off, spun it around a few times and jumped into the pool, splashing everyone in the process.

“TANAKA!!!!” Suga beamed with excitement over seeing his friend after a long time. Ryunosuke Tanaka was also on the Karasuno volleyball team in high school and still lived in Miyagi.

“ME TOO! ME TOO!” yelled an equally energetic but shorter guy with wild hair running out of the house after Tanaka, and then joining him in splashing into the pool with as much, if not more, gusto.

“NOYAAAAA!” It isn’t in Asahi’s nature to shout much, but Nishinoya is as important to him as both Daichi and Suga, and he was ecstatic to see him. Back in high school, Yu Nishinoya was the one on the team to encourage Asahi the most when he was feeling down. Even though Noya was the year blow him in school, and even though his personality is almost the mirror opposite, they connected easily and became great friends.

“STOP CAUSING A RUKUS!” yelled Daichi over everyone in an attempt to calm down his overzealous friends. Keeping his old team mates in line came second nature to Daichi after playing years of volleyball with them. 

Mrs Sawamura peaked her head out of the still open door and called out to the group, “I found these boys lurking around outside.”

“Oh yeah, I told them we were in town. Sorry Okaasan. I hope you don’t mind!” apologised Suga.

“More the merrier. It’s like old times huh? I’ll start lunch when you’re all ready. We’re having BBQ.” She then retreated back into the house to leave her son and his old friends to reconnect.

After hearing about lunch, the new comer’s eyes burst with stars as they started loudly singing a chorus of, “Meat, meat, meaty meat!”

“Are these your old team mates from school, Daichi?” laughed Y/N as she wiped the sprayed water out of her eyes. “I now know why you became so good at lecturing people.”

“Yeah, sorry about them,” he replied as he rubbed the back of his neck, just as he always does when he is being bashful. “Okay guys. Listen up. I’d like you to meet our friend Y/N, though she usually answers to Bambi. She goes to the police academy with me.”

“Oooooo bringing home a girl to Okaasan. Bold move, Daichi! Oh my god. She’s in a bikini... with Kiyoko… OH MY GOD, DID I DIE? AM I IN HEAVEN?!” 

“Watch it, Tanaka!” warned Daichi as he flashed him is most intimidating glare; The one where a shadow falls over his face while he scowls.

“NICE TO MEET YOU!” yelled Noya as he climbed up on Asahi’s shoulders, because apparently yelling is the only volume for him to speak; And as far as Y/N knows, he probably talks like that when inside too. “Suga told me about you! You’re a libero like me!”

“Yeah. Well, I used to be. I’m not on a team at the moment,” explained Y/N as she crossed her arms over to chest, now very aware that the attention was on her.

“If you’re a libero then you’re a libero for life, Bambi,” Noya stated/yelled as if it was fact. “Daichi, I like her already!”

In an effort to take the heat of himself, Daichi threw Suga under the bus. In his mind, Suga deserved it for inviting over the boisterous boys to begin with, and talking about his relationship with anyone who will listen. “Suga and Kiyoko are dating.”

There was silence at first, and then a splash. Noya dramatically fell off Asahi’s shoulders as if he received a dagger to the heart. Tanaka had a similar reaction to hearing that his beloved Kiyoko was once again off the market. He took a deep breath in, held it and once his face started to turn red he cried, “WHY MEEE!!!!”

“Not everything is about you,” Suga sweat-dropped at his friends over the top reactions to the news. “And thanks for that, Daichi. Now they will try to suffocate me in my sleep.”

Once Noya’s recovered, he re-climbed on Asahi’s shoulders and asked, “Kiyoko, I thought you once told Suga that you would never marry him?”

“SHUT UP, NOYA!” cried Suga, now regretting telling his old friends that he was back in town and at Daichi’s house.

“I don’t remember saying that,” responded Kiyoko coolly. She was so used to the guy’s antics that she didn’t get phased by it anymore. Y/N was jealous that she always seemed to remain so cool and confident, even with the attention of all the men on her.

Hearing Kiyoko’s rebuttal, Suga flashed his friends a smug look and then a wink. He remembers exactly the moment that Noya was referring too, but there was no way he was going to admit it. He was amazed that Kiyoko even agreed to go out with him and he didn’t want to push his luck with talking about marriage. Especially since she had previously been engaged to someone else.

After further enthusiastic introductions and discussions, the pool seemed a bit too crowded for Y/N to stay seated on the steps. So with help from Daichi, she exited the pool, re-dressed and retreated in doors. When Y/N made her way inside she decided to sit down in the kitchen and chat with Mrs Sawamura while waiting for the others to be ready for lunch. Y/N offered to help prep the food but Okaasan insisted that she sit and rest her foot with the icepack that she retrieved from the freezer.

“Bambi, I like you. You’re such a nice girl. I think you’re good for my Daichi. He can be so serious sometimes, so it’s nice to see that he can have fun and relax when you’re around.”

“Thanks, Okaasan.” Y/N responded with a gentle smile.

“I like you a lot better than Michimiya. Even when they were in high school. She would always follow him around, but there was just something about her that I didn’t like. Probably the lack of manners. But you, you’re so polite and sweet. But, I also hear that you don’t take any hoo-ha from anyone.”

“Well, I guess at some point I learnt that I just have to look after myself. No one is going to do it for me, so it’s better to stand up for myself.”

“I admire that, though I bet you learnt that the hard way. A lot of girls your age don’t have your strength when it comes to things like that. Although, I do think that you should still be able to depend on other people, but I see your point. See, you should always be able to rely on your friends.” 

“Not always,” Y/N mumbled, thinking back to her ex-best friend, Airi.

“Oh?” 

“I mean. Not Daichi! Of course he’s such a wonderful friend and you should be really proud of him. It’s easy to see that he’s an amazing person when you look at how many old and cherished friends he has. They all think the world of him. And I do too. I just meant that you can’t trust someone just because they claim to be your friend.”

“I’m sorry to say that sometimes that is true. But it’s pretty clear to see that you have found some cherished and trustworthy friends here. And maybe more…” Mrs Sawamura added a wink to her last statement. “You don’t get to be my age without meeting a fair share of untrustworthy people. But never trusting anyone will do more damage than good. Letting someone in can be a risk, sure, but not taking that risk will stop you from living life to its fullest. 

“Even with Daichi’s father, he left when the kids were young and one could say he isn’t the most trust worthy person; but my life would have been so different without him. You learn from bad experiences and a lot of the time the experiences aren’t all bad. For example, my ex-husband gave me three beautiful children. So, although things didn’t turn out well with him, it wasn’t a total loss and I learnt a lot about myself. I’m stronger for it. I can tell you’ve already learnt a lot about yourself too. Adversity makes us grow, Bambi. Just don’t forget to let people in some times. I think the riskiest thing of all is to let yourself be lonely because you didn’t give someone who truly loves you a chance.”

Mrs Sawamura flashed her a sweet smile and brushed a tuft of Y/N’s hair behind her ear, just like her mum used to do. It made Y/N feel like this wise woman, Daichi’s mother, could see right into her soul. She acted like she knew all the suffering that Y/N had been through in her life, and yet was confident that things would turn out okay. This evoked a rare and wholesome feeling inside Y/N that made her feel like things might actually be okay.

Their conversation was then interrupted by the sound of people coming through the back door and footsteps towards the kitchen.

“Hey, Mum. The animals are getting hungry. Let me start up the BBQ. You just sit down and relax. The guys will cook for themselves and I’ll make something for you too.”

“What did I do to deserve such a wonderful, responsible and _TRUSTWORTHY_ son!” exclaimed Mrs Sawamura, really emphasising the word trustworthy in Y/N’s direction.

Y/N couldn’t help but think that this woman is pretty damn smooth with the way she dropped the trustworthy comment in there. Daichi, on the other hand, was confused by his mother’s strange behaviour and backed out of the kitchen slowly.

Next Chapter: Weekend in Miyagi 2


	18. Weekend in Miyagi 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two to Weekend in Miyagi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is part two! It was supposed to be in one chapter but I thought it was way too long and needed to be separated.  
> Enjoy the fluff!  
> （☆∀☆）

Chapter Eighteen: Weekend in Miyagi 2.

Lunch arrived, and everyone stuffed their faces with BBQ. Daichi’s mum wasn’t kidding when she said that she took care of the groceries. It was almost as if she expected Noya and Tanaka to drop by unannounced, and that everyone would eat until they could barely move.

The afternoon turned into evening when everyone went home. The perfect summer day was coming to an end. Asahi, Suga and Kiyoko agreed to meet up with Y/N and Daichi at the train station for their return trip at 2pm the next day.  
Daichi and Y/N took turns showering and then re-joined Mrs Sawamura in the living room to watch a movie together. It had gotten pretty late after the everyone finished eating so they doubted they would need a full dinner with the amount of food that was served. 

However, Daichi was just beginning to think about putting on some popcorn, because he’s probably the biggest eater of them all, when the front door swung open and Daichi’s siblings burst through. 

“We’re home!” they both chimed.

“Ooo, who’s the girl with her feet in your lap Daichi?” asked his brother.

“My babies are home! What a wonderful surprise! Everyone’s home at the same time!” cheered Mrs Sawamura as she got up to hug her children. “Oh and this is Bambi! She’s Daichi’s friend from the academy.”

Y/N tried to remove her feet from Daichi and stand up, but she ended up just rolling off the couch onto her side with a thump.  
Everyone stared at her with surprise and concern until she rose from the floor with a sheepish smile and waved. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Now I see why you call her Bambi,” chucked Mrs Sawamura as Daichi helped Y/N back onto the couch and made sure she was okay.

“I’m fine Daichi. You don’t need to fuss.”

“He can’t help but fuss over you, dear. You’re very important to him and you’re already injured. What else is he supposed to do?” Y/N now started to think that maybe Okaasan was just as much of a meddler as Suga. Although she hasn’t outright said that she think’s Daichi and Y/N should be more than friends, she has definitely hinted at it more than once.

Mrs Sawamura’s last comment made Y/N and Daichi blush furiously at the implications, as his brother carried in large bags. “It’s nice to meet you too… Bambi is it?”

His then sister added, “What a cute name! Does he call you that because you’re wobbly on your feet?”

“I’m not wobbly on my feet.” Y/N’s poor defence made Daichi roll his eyes and let out of puff of air in disbelief. “Hey, don’t pick on me!”

“I didn’t say anything,” laughed Daichi as he raised his hands in defence.

“Wait, don’t tell me you came home just to do laundry? You’re not actually here to visit your poor old mother are you?”

“Of course we’re here to see you Ma. We just also happen to bring laundry with us. We will spend the weekend with you. You said Daichi was visiting so we thought we’d come by.”

“You guys are staying here?” asked Daichi with a small about of panic that his plans for room assignments were being messed with.

“Yeah, why? Am I not allowed to come home at the same time as you? Don’t you like us bro?” asked his sister.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course I’m happy to see you guys. It’s just, I was going to set Y/N up in your room for the night.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping together? You know mum doesn’t care about that. I have my boyfriend over all the time.”

“What?” his voice cracked in that moment, as his eyes opened a little wider than normal. He was starting to grow pretty tired of everyone commenting on his relationship with Y/N. Can’t a man and a woman just be friends without causing a big deal. He is terribly in love with her, but other people don’t know that. “No, no. We’re just friends.”

“Sure, sure,” She rolled her eyes at what she thought was her brother lying. “Well, why don’t you just use the futon and sleep on the floor. Or on the couch”

Daichi then turned to Y/N, gave her an affiliative smile and said, “Sorry about this, Bambi. I didn’t know they were coming. You can take my bed. You know… your foot and everything.” 

“As if where I sleep is going to make a difference to my foot. Unless I’m in a coffin like a vampire or something… I’m sure I’ll be fine anywhere. I’m just grateful you’re letting me stay. Don’t stress, Daichi,” she assured him with a thumbs up and a big smile.

With that matter settled, Daichi cooked double the popcorn and they all watched a movie together. 

As the night grew later, Y/N eyes started to feel heavy and she leaned her head against Daichi’s shoulder, showing signs on her impending sleep.

“Bambi, when was the last time you finished a whole movie without falling asleep?” His comment jolted her awake a bit and she scrunched her face at the disturbance. “Come on. I’ll help you upstairs.”

Mrs Sawamura flashed Daichi a knowing look and smiled at them.

“Okay,” Y/N said softly, giving in pretty easily to the assistance as she was too tired to bother arguing. In the sleepy state she was in, with her foot the way it is, going up those stairs alone would likely result in an accident. 

So Daichi helped her up the stairs and they brushed their teeth. Then Daichi fetched Y/N’s bag from his sister’s room so that she could get ready for bed. 

“Daichi?” Y/N spoke as she returned from the bathroom to see Daichi setting up the bed for her. He hummed in reply.  
“You’re staying in here with me, right?”

“Huh? Oh, umm I can sleep on the couch if you-”

“No, stay in here with me. I feel bad enough that you’re letting me use your bed again.”

“Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly. He has no qualms with staying in the same room as Y/N, but he definitely didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

Y/N was more comfortable with this arrangement than the alternative, because she felt safe around Daichi. It’s not like she feel she was in danger or anything but it was nice that he was always there to help her and protect her. He gave her space when she needed it. He let her attempt autonomy with her foot the way it is, but he was also always right there next to her when she needed help, and she never even had to ask. Daichi shows her the upmost respect at all times and this observation made her consider what his mother had told her earlier. Maybe she should let Daichi in and not keep him at an arm’s length like she originally planned. She had a lot on her mind but she eventually drifted off to sleep with Daichi close by, on the futon that he set up on the floor.

In the early hours of the morning, Y/N awoke in a panic. She had that dream again. It was never exactly the same, but it always left her with a feeling of loneliness and despair. That’s when she remembered that Daichi was asleep on the floor, not far from her; which was somewhat comforting. She continued to lay awake staring at the ceiling as she made her way through her thoughts and feelings about the nightmare. 

The dim light of the clock on the bedside table lit the room just enough so she could make out the outline of Daichi’s sleeping form. In her sleep deprived state (that’s a two nights in a row she woke to a nightmare), she let go of any reason as to why she shouldn’t join Daichi on the floor. So she crawled out of bed, blankets wrapped around her like a cocoon and settled on the empty sliver of futon next to him. She lay by his side, facing him. At this distance she could see his sleepy face better. To her, he looked so peaceful with his tiny sleepy breaths and cute twitching nose as the blanket brushed against it. She fell asleep with the comfort knowing that Daichi was right there sleeping, because if he could sleep peacefully than why couldn’t she?

A few hours later, pretty early in the morning, Y/N woke to the feeling of arms around her. As it turns out, during the night she had cuddled close to Daichi, discarded her own blankets and snuggled into his chest. Daichi had unconsciously pulled Y/N in closer so that she is now just a whisper of a breath away from his face. Content with this development, she smiled softly, closed her eyes once more and drifted back to sleep in the warmth of his embrace.

Later, at a more reasonable hour in the morning, Daichi’s phone stated to play the song that had haunted him since he awoke from his intimate dream the week before. This time, they were spooning and Daichi had a good grip around Y/N’s waist. Confused and still pretty sleepy, he let go and grabbed his phone to turn off the alarm, then looked back down at Y/N.

“Hey, Bambi,” he said in a sleepy whisper as he leaned over to see if her eyes were open. He wasn’t quite sure if he was dreaming again. “What cha doin’ down here?” At this point he is partially above her, lifting himself up with one arm whilst the other rubbed sleep out of his eyes. She then rolled onto her back to look up at him with heavy lids.

“Are you okay? Did you fall out of bed again?”

She hummed and shook her head. “No, I had a bad dream. Sorry, Daichi,” she whispered with a solemn look on her face before she manoeuvred herself to be on her side, facing Daichi once more.

Daichi couldn’t stand that sad look on her face and his heart dropped. He lay back down beside her, brought her into a hug and kissed the crown of her head.  
“Wanna talk about it?” he asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.

She softly hummed out a sound that sounded like a ‘no’ into his chest, not thinking much of how affectionate Daichi is being. She had never told anyone about her dreams before and she didn’t want people to think she was crazy. She knew the nightmares were induced by stress so she never felt the need to talk about it before. She was just content with the physical comfort that Daichi was giving her.

“But it might make you feel better,” he suggested softly. He was awake enough to know that he shouldn’t push her into talking about something that she didn’t want to talk about, but he hoped that she may feel comfortable enough with him to give him some insight.

She thought about his reasoning for a moment as she nuzzled further into Daichi’s cuddle. It never really occurred to her that talking about it might make her feel better. She would often just wish to forget about it. Even with her ex-boyfriend, back when they were together, if she had the nightmare and woke up by his side, then she would just try not to disturb him and attempt to go back to sleep. It was starting to occur to Y/N that Daichi might be right.

“It’s the same dream I always have. Everyone was gone and I couldn’t find them,” she started to explain as Daichi continued to run his fingers through her hair. “They were taken or something and I couldn’t move my legs and I didn’t have a voice to call for help.” She spoke softly with a crackle in her voice, exhibiting the negative emotions that she felt when thinking about the dream.

This broke Daichi’s heart a little. He loved Y/N so much that he never wanted her to feel pain or sadness, even if it was from a dream. “Oh, Bambi. That sounds awful. I’m so sorry.”  
He kisses the crown of her head again and continues, “but you know it was just a dream right. You’re got loads of people around you. Me too. I’m here for you always. And you can talk to me about anything. Anytime.”

“Thanks, Daichi.”

“Even when you creep into bed with me like a weirdo,” he joked.

“Shut up!” Y/N retaliated by playfully pushing his shoulder. 

Daichi continued to chuckle at her adorableness and stroked her hair some more. “Did you want to sleep some more then? You seem really tired.”

“Will you stay?”

“Of course. Just let me go to the bathroom really quick. I’ll be right back.” He pulls her tight for one more hug before he gets up. Once he returns, she’s already partially asleep and when he re-joins her he kisses her forehead lightly before she settles back into her favourite place, between his neck and his chest. Safest place in the world. Too sleepy to think, she will ponder the repercussions of the forehead kiss another time.

A little while later, the couple awoke to the sound of doors opening and closing down the hall, and the smell of what was probably bacon wafting through the air. At this point, Y/N had rested her hand on Daichi’s back, which she then moved slightly under his shirt to feel his warm skin.

“Oh my god, Bambi,” he shivered. “Your hands are freezing, what the hell.” He reached around and grabbed her hand from out of his shirt to bring it up to his face. He wrapped his large hands around her small one and blew into it to warm her up.

Y/N smiled and giggled at this action. “My hands just get cold sometimes.”

“You’re trying to steal all my frikkin warmth. And its summer now. How do you get so cold!”

“Shut up and just let me steal your warmth before we go for breakfast,” she smiled as Daichi pressed the side of his face against her forehead as he held her. Lips lightly brushing the skin as he moved with their breaths. She had her nose pressed into his neck, breathing him in and enjoying the closeness. Safe and warm.

The line between friends and more than friends, has never been more blurred.

Next Chapter: Suga’s Birthday.


	19. Suga's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Suga's birthday and the group go to a karaoke bar. Bokuto has a blind date. Things aren't all fun and games.

Chapter Nineteen: Suga’s Birthday.

It’s Friday night. Almost two weeks had passed since the Miyagi trip and today is Suga’s birthday. 

Nothing very noteworthy had happened since the trip; except for the new work-experience class that had started for the police academy students. Every Wednesday until graduation, the mature academy students are required to spend the afternoon at different police stations across the city, to gain experience. The students aren’t qualified to do any actual police work, and they had to be mindful to not get in the way, but they do get a chance to learn how a precinct works. It basically involves plenty of observation and completing practice police reports, which they would have to submit for credit.

The trip to Miyagi was an effective way for the participants to recharge their batteries before getting back into the swing of life. 

The weekend following the trip, Y/N had travelled back to her home town, so that she could visit Sora for their birthday. So that, along with their busy academy schedule, hadn’t left any time for Daichi and Y/N to be alone together. There had been lingering touches and flirty remarks since their snuggle session in Miyagi, but nothing as momentous. When it comes down to it, Daichi is too hesitant to do anything about his feelings. Especially when in front of other people. He’d had enough of everyone commenting on their relationship and telling him what to do. Contrary to all the unsolicited advice from his friends and family, he wants to take it slow with Y/N because she is way too important to risk losing her. 

Similarly, Y/N had been sorting through her feelings and came to the conclusion that she would wait for Daichi to make the first move, so as to avoid ruining her most cherished friendship. It has always been fairly easy for Y/N to make friends, but for one reason or another, she struggled to keep them. So, this time, with this group, she would do all that is in her power to keep her circle of friends; and since Daichi is at the centre, she’d have to play it safe. She believed that if she was too bold and messed things up with Daichi, then she would lose _everyone._ And she wasn’t about to let that happen again.

Consequentially, when it comes to Y/N and Daichi’s ‘relationship’, neither wants to break the peace. So it’s slow and steady as she goes.

However, peace never lasts long…

For Suga’s birthday, his closest friends organised a fun gathering at his favourite karaoke bar, ‘Radio Star’. This wasn’t Suga’s favourite bar because he likes to sing, though he is good at it; It’s his favourite bar because he thinks it’s hilarious to see drunk people trying to sing like Christina Aguilera. Especially his friends. 

Those invited and therefore encouraged to get drunk and sing are; his housemates (Daichi and Asahi), his old team mates (Tanaka and Noya), his old volleyball rivals (Kuroo, Kenma and Bokuto), his newest friend and target of relationship meddling (Y/N), his old friend turned girlfriend Kiyoko _AND_ accompanying her, the blind-date that had been set up for Bokuto.

Radio Star is the kind of venue that has a main stage for the brave, alongside a bar for the brave to get drunk before singing, as well as some private karaoke rooms for small bookings. The expected turn out for Suga’s birthday was deemed less than small, so they settled for reserving a booth in the main area, plus a couple of other tables to drag over. 

Most of the group headed to the karaoke bar together, except for the females, who are expected to join them soon. Once the men arrived, they took their seats in the reserved booth, and ordered their first round of drinks. It was late enough in the bar that those who chose to sing on the main stage, were tipsy enough to have the confidence to _attempt_ to pull of big songs with high falsettos. 

‘Quality entertainment’ is what Suga calls it.

“You guys have to promise to each sing me a song. It’s my birthday and I expect nothing less from my friends.”

“No way! You’re just going to record it and use the video to blackmail me later,” protested Daichi.

“Oya, oya? Well, how about, instead of singing for you, I go and buy you a very _special_ drink?” asked Kuroo with a wicked smirk. He’d be hard pressed to find anyone to trust him with the face that he is making. Just because it’s Suga’s birthday, doesn’t mean that he is exempt from Kuroo’s little pranks. In fact, it probably puts a bigger target on his back, because the rooster-haired man can be a sly trickster when he wants to be.

“Yeah. Right.” Suga rolled his eyes. “You’re just going to get me a drink made of Malibu and pickled onion juice with hot sauce aren’t you.”

“What? I wouldn’t do that! I’m a nice person.”

“You have before, Kuroo... and I threw up. I did not like your ‘special drink’.” He used air quotations when referring to Kuroo’s unsavoury cocktail inventions.

“Oh yeah!” The prankster laughed, looking off in to the distance like he was reliving a cherished memory. “Good times.”

Asahi chimed in at this point and added nervously, “Umm, Suga. I don’t want to sing in front of all these people.”

“DON’T WORRY ASAHI! I’LL DO IT WITH YOU!” Noya screamed at his friend in encouragement, which made Asahi even more nervous. It was hard for him to refuse Noya but he really didn’t want to go on stage.

“Don’t slouch!” Daichi slapped Asahi on the back, causing Asahi to shoot upright and mutter an apology.

“If Asahi wont sing, then Noya and I will! We will show you city boys how it’s done!!!”

“Tanaka,” Suga sighed. “Stop saying ‘city boys’. It’s embarrassing.”

“Oh, speaking of converted city boys,” continues Tanaka. “Guess who we saw on the train from Miyagi!”

The conversations continued, the boys paid for Suga’s drinks in celebration and jokes were made about his silver hair correlating to his ‘geriatric’ age.

The group is having a great time, although Daichi would have preferred if Y/N were already here, but she insisted she had a few things to do beforehand, so she said that she would meet them there. Daichi never told his friends about how cuddly he got with Y/N back in Miyagi because he _knew_ he would never hear the end of it. That’s not to say that they didn’t ask, especially Suga.

A part of the reason why Y/N is later than the guys, is because she decided to dress up for the occasion, which was rare for her. The group of friends had only ever really seen her in her normal casual state; comfortable clothing and sometimes looking like a slob. However, this time Y/N decided on a flattering and colourful dress that resembled a field of flowers; but make it abstract. She also took the time to put on some makeup, with a bright pink lipstick that matched the shade on her dress. 

Upon seeing Y/N enter the bar, Daichi’s jaw dropped and his eyes swept over her form. His cheeks flushed in response to her beauty and he followed her movements as she made her way to their booth to greet the birthday boy.  
_She looks gorgeous._  
He’d have to keep an eye on his own behaviour with Y/N tonight if he didn’t want to make a fool of himself, especially if he was planning on drinking more.

When she turned to greet Daichi, she gave him a bright smile and pulled him in for a hug. 

**CLICK!**

Suga wasted no time before he took a photo of them together, stating that he just wanted to, “capture the magic of tonight.”

This earnt an eye roll from both Y/N and Daichi, who unwrapped from the hug sooner than they had liked.

“Smells like fruity berries,” Daichi whispered to no one in particular as he sat and moved along the booth to give Y/N room to sit beside him.

“What?”

Daichi couldn’t believe he had said that out loud. He hadn’t even finished his first drink yet and he thought he was already acting like an idiot. Eyes wide and staring at her, he cleared his throat and said, “You smell sweet, like fruits or berries.” 

He held his breath as he waited for her reaction.  
Y/N blushed and countered with, “Well, you always smell like cinnamon and warm spices or something... I mean… not that I smell you all the time or anything… oh god… I’ll shut up now. Just ignore me. Maybe I’ll go get a drink.”

Daichi chucked at her embarrassment as she motioned to stand up. Before she could leave, she was interrupted.

“Hey, hey, hey! Bambi!!” Yelled Bokuto as he advanced towards her. “You look BEAUTIFUL! Are you trying to distract me from my date tonight?”

“Stop creeping her out!” Suga scolded as he grabbed his friend’s collar to pull him away from crowding Y/N.

As Bokuto is dragged away, Tanaka and Noya started offering to buy Y/N shots so she can ‘catch up’ to the level of inebriation of her friends. Kuroo even offered to buy her one of his ‘special’ drinks.

Bokuto egged her on to try Kuroo’s drinks and Daichi yelled at them all in protest.

“Don’t drink anything Kuroo gives you unless you like gross drinks with random hot sauce in it,” warned Daichi.

The last of the party to arrive is Kiyoko. As she approaches the group, Tanaka and Noya, who were in the middle of singing ‘Suga Suga’ by Baby Bash (dedicated to Suga) on the main stage, dropped their microphones and hurdled over the audience to welcome her.  
As Kiyoko greeted the birthday boy, she kissed Suga softly on the lips, which made the boisterous duo skid to a halt, cartoon style, and drop their jaws. Kiyoko wasn’t the type to ever participate in public displays of affection and they couldn’t believe their eyes. 

“Suga, you’re a lucky bastard,” wailed Tanaka as he clutched his chest.

Upon seeing Kiyoko’s entrance, Bokuto jumps to his feet, practically vibrating with excitement to meet his blind date. She waves Bokuto over, but before he joins her, he checks his breath, straightens his dress-shirt and asks Kuroo for luck.

“Hey, hey, hey! So where is the lovely lady?” asks Bokuto as he twists his head around, to and fro like the owl he is.

“She couldn’t make it. I’m really sorry, Bo,” Kiyoko said gently while locking arms with Suga.

Bokuto wasn’t quite sure that he heard her properly. He paused a moment, then tilted his head to consider the notion that his date had stood him up.

“Something came up and she isn’t able to make it tonight. I am so sorry, Bo. I didn’t know this would happen.”

His voice wavered slightly has she spoke. “Well, I guess if it couldn’t be avoided… Did she say anything about rescheduling?”

Kiyoko was hesitant to answer because she knew the next part would hurt his feelings, which is why she had kept her explanation vague to begin with.  
“Umm… she got back together with her ex-boyfriend. I’m so, so sorry. I should have made sure that she was over the other guy before setting you up with her.”

“Wait. What? I don’t understand. I though you said that _she_ was the one that wanted to be set up. So you picked me because you…” His sentence drifted off having just realised his friend’s real intentions. He looked to Suga, turned around to his friends chatting in the booth, then back to Kiyoko. “Oh… You guys set this up because you pity me…”

If he had of continued to look his friends in the eye, rather than at his shoes, he would have seen their hearts break. They truly never meant for him to get hurt and the honestly just want him to be happy. Every one of Bokuto’s friends adores him. Even though he can be a bit of a handful some times, he is one of the kindest guys they know, and he has a way of energising those around him. So it really tore them up to see their friend so despondent.

“No, Bo! That’s not it! No one is pitying you. I just wanted to set you up with a nice girl because I want you to be happy. So I asked Kiyoko if she had any available friends.”

“But… But you said _THEY_ wanted to be set up. You made it sound like she actually wanted to go out with _ME._ Not that you picked someone random because you think I’m lonely…”

“Oh, Bo! I’m sorry. She really did want to meet you and she was excited for the date... But … She is just an idiot and got back together with her ex. You deserve better than her anyway. And Suga meant well when he asked me to find you someone. It’s not because anyone pities you. You have so much love to give and he just wanted you to maybe try and put yourself out there with someone new.”

Bokuto could tell they were hinting at his pursuit for Y/N, when they told him to find someone _new._ However, he was so heavy-hearted from the situation that he just replied with, “It’s fine. I get it. Let’s just drop it…”

He ended the conversation and went up to the bar to order more drinks.

“Shit. He’s pretty upset.” This was the first time that Suga ever considered that meddling in his friend’s love lives might actually cause more harm than good.  
Now that he thinks about it, his real intentions for setting up Bokuto were less for his sake and more to help get him of Y/N’s back so that Daichi could pursue her. A massive wave of guilt hit him, not only from realising how careless he was with Bokuto’s feelings, but also from the amount of times he had pushed Daichi and Y/N together.  
_As much as I want Y/N and Daichi to be together, what if my actions are the thing stopping them from doing so. What if my meddling is the reason for all my friend’s unhappiness?_

Kiyoko was quick to bring Suga out of his thoughts, though he wouldn’t completely forget them any time soon. He’d have to rethink his plans for Y/N and Daichi later, because for now he will focus on damage control; i.e. Bokuto’s emo-state. 

The night went on and people drank and sang. Kuroo only left Kenma’s side once, to perform a song with a pretty drunk Bokuto in an attempt to lighten his mood. Most of the time Kuroo was in the booth with his boyfriend, shielding him from any unnecessary social interactions, while he played games on his phone.

It was no surprise to Suga, and his friends, that when Bokuto is in his emo-mode, he can lean towards a more self-destructive path. In this case, he drank a lot, despite his friends attempts to slow him down. At some point, Kuroo downed most of Bokuto’s drink while he wasn’t looking, so as to trick him in to thinking he drunk more than he did. This was Kuroo’s backwards way of stopping his friend from binging too hard. Suga and Asahi took turns in bringing their gloomy friend glasses of water and everyone else showered him with compliments when they could.

However, the drunker Bokuto got, the more talkative he appeared to be. 

Bokuto eventually moved his attentions over to Y/N, who had been chatting with Daichi most of the night.

Daichi hasn’t drunk as much as his unruly friends, since he feels the need to make sure they don’t get in to too much trouble. However, that doesn’t mean that he is entirely sober either.  
Throughout the night, Daichi devoted his whole attention to Y/N. He couldn’t help but be entranced by her. It was a risky game he was playing, keeping his affections to himself, and he hoped he wouldn’t let his feelings slip out unintentionally. He sensed that he really needed to keep his hormones under control and his desire to sweep her off her feet, at bay. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself or let things get out of hand. At one point, in an attempt to control himself, he even went as far as flinching away when she touched him on the knee affectionately during conversation. 

Unfortunately for him, Y/N, who is also tipsy, took Daichi’s self-restraint for disinterest. She assumed that his flinch was a sign that she was overstepping their line of friendship and that he wanted her to stop. 

So, not wanting to appear too clingy, she decided to switch it up and sit with Bokuto for a while. She ignored the pain in her chest at the thought of rejection, and invested herself in her conversation with her owl-like friend; who at this point is blabbing on about how he was stood up, while fishing for compliments and comfort. Which, much to Bokuto’s delight, she gave in to. 

In her inebriated state, Y/N felt less vexed by Bokuto’s advances and insistent flirting than usual. In her mind, she reasoned that _‘this is just his way of showing affection’,_ and that _‘he’s just bad at flirting’._  
Bokuto’s way of flirting is significantly different to what she had experienced with her ex-boyfriend, and was therefore refreshing. 

Y/N’s ex would flirt with anything that could walk, and he was good at it. With his silver tongue and his gorgeous looks, he had women and even men, falling at his feet. One time that was literally the case, when a girl who was obsessed with him actually pushed Y/N out of the way so she could throw herself at him. All just to get his attention, which he loved. He ate up attention like it was his favourite food and couldn’t live without it. 

That’s was the main point of difference between Y/N and her ex-boyfriend. She loved his attention, but didn’t desire anyone else’s. He was her world, and yet she was just a small part of his. He loved his _fans_ and would insist that flirting with them, and Y/N friends, was _‘harmless,’_ and that it was all for his career image. Which Y/N believed at the time. 

She didn’t have any reason not to believe him. 

Until, all of a sudden, she did.

Everything he ever said in the past felt like a lie when Y/N found him with his dick buried in her best friend, Airi.

Snapping out of it, she didn’t realise that she had drifted off in thought, until Bokuto got a little bit too close. His hand was on her leg, his face was dusted pink and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. He spoke her name softly, eyes directed at her lips and he leaned in. 

Before he made contact, there was a loud sound of smashing glass nearby. Y/N whipped her head away from Bokuto to see Daichi clutching his hand that looked a little bloody.

“OH MY GOD! DAICHI!” Y/N sprung from her spot on the couch and cried out, “What happened?”

She grabbed a bunch of napkins to dust off any glass still left in his hand and to cover the wound. Applying pressure to the cut, Daichi remained silent. 

Y/N managed to direct him towards the bathroom so she could wash the cut and get the beer off his hand. She couldn’t figure out how he got this wound AND managed to get beer all over his hands, aside from the unlikely idea that he hulked out on the glass and crushed it in his palm. 

They entered the men’s room, Y/N still applying pressure to his wound, when they found a couple making out against one of the stalls.  
“Get out.” She said flatly, unfazed by what was going on in the bathroom, all the while being entirely focused on helping Daichi, who was still silent.  
He was biting the inside of his cheek more out of frustration than any pain he was feeling in his hand.

The couple, having seen the bloody hand, ‘noped’ out of the situation and scurried out of the bathroom.

Y/N brought Daichi over to the sink to wash off the blood and beer, then asked, “What happened, Daichi? Are you okay?”

“I’M FINE!” he shouted at her. He didn’t mean to raise his voice. He was just frustrated with the whole situation.

Y/N flinched slightly, taken aback by his behaviour because he had never done that before. Sure, he yelled at his friends sometimes to keep them from causing a ruckus, but _NEVER_ to her.

Seeing her reaction and the sadness in her eyes, he tried to apologise before Suga interrupted.  
“Hey, Daichi. Are you oka…” He drifted off, feeling the tension as he entered the room.

Y/N was the first to break the silence. “I’ll go see if the staff have any bandages or something.” So she let go of Daichi’s hand and left.

“Shit.”

“What happened, man?” Suga took Y/N’s previous spot and helped Daichi clean his hand.

“I yelled at her.” At this point it looked like Daichi was about to start crying. He bit his lip and blinked away any tears that threatened to fall.

“Yeah. I heard. Why?”

“She was with Bokuto…”

“They kissed?!”

“No. Well, I don’t know. I think they were about to. They were close. Like _really_ close.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I’m not fucking lying!”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” Suga said as he tries to calm Daichi down with the soothing voice that he uses on his students when they are upset. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were. Let’s just get your hand fixed up before we talk more about this okay. Alcohol thins the blood, so you will be bleeding a bit more than you normally would. I’m sure Y/N will be back soon with something.”

A few moments later she returned. Y/N handed an alcohol wipe and a bandage to Suga, before she left without saying anything more.

“I fucked up.” Daichi’s voice broke as he thought about how he treated her. It stung to think about the situation and how upset he made her.

“Don’t worry Daichi. We’ll fix it.”

Next Chapter: The Plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm sorry that I'm taking longer to write these chapters. I've been taking a bit more time with the chapters that I think are more important. It's hard work trying to put into words the scenarios and feelings I imagine for the characters and I don't want to mess it up!
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter!
> 
> PS. I really hope you guys know the song I mentioned.  
> Suga Suga by Baby Bash.  
> \- "Suga Suga how you get so fly." That was my jam back in '03!  
> ♪～(￣ε￣)


	20. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after Suga's birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Short chapter alert. Also. WoWoWoW! Twenty chapters down, five to go. I’ll be kind of sad when it’s done, but also a little happy because I’ll be totally writing a new one Muahahah  
> (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و

Chapter Twenty: The Plan.

With Suga’s positive attitude, along with the friends who still remained cheerful, he managed to salvage the night to some extent.  
“Negativity be gone!” he would scream at everyone, while karate-chopping them all in their sides. However, Y/N and Daichi went home soon after the glass shattered. Separately. 

Daichi’s hand wasn’t badly hurt. He had a cut on his palm that barley needed a bandage by the next day. It could have been a lot worse and he was grateful that he didn’t need stiches. Though he would have preferred to have been hurt far worse, if given the choice between that, and not yelling at Y/N.

Daichi is inconsolable about what happened and spent most of Saturday moping around the apartment and drinking tea, while Y/N dodged his calls and messages of apology.

At one point, Suga felt so bad for him, that he called Mrs Sawamura to ask what to do.

“Maybe you should let them sort it out themselves. They should really get together in their own time. You can’t rush them.”

“But he’s being a coward!”

“No, he’s just being careful. He doesn’t want to lose her.” Mrs Sawamura explained. “Suga, you’re a good friend. You always look after my Daichi, and I appreciate it. But what exactly was you’re plan here?”

Suga paused and tossed up whether or not to tell Daichi’s mother about his plan. Mrs Sawamura was always good at giving everyone advice and she never judged anyone for what they do or say; unlike Suga’s own parents, who tended to be a little harsh and judgemental.  
“Well, it all started off with me taking a cute picture of Daichi and Y/N. She was giving Asahi a pep-talk about his cooking at the time, even though they just met.”

“That’s so sweet of her!”

“Well, Daichi thought so too, because he was staring at her and smiling like a frikkin idiot. So I took a picture.”

“Oooooooo, can you sent it to me?!” She could never resist an opportunity to gather more pictures of her babies.

“Okaaasannnnnn! Let me finish the story!” Suga whined.

“Sorry, sorry! Go on!”

“Okay. So. It started off with just taking pictures of the two of them being lovey-dovey. Mostly because I wanted to tease Daichi and force him in to doing something about his feelings. _I KNOW,_ I know! I know what you’re going to stay. And I agree with what you said before, I shouldn’t be meddling. I just really wanted him to act on his feelings. He’s been so introverted since Bitchimiya. I just wanted him to be happy.”

“I know you do, Suga… So, what were your plans with the photos?”

“Oh right! Well, I was going to show him the photos,” Suga stopped his explanation to begin another explanation. “There’s more photos than the ones I took, because Kuroo and Asahi helped me… And I was planning to show either Daichi or Bambi, or both of them, so that they would act on their feelings. I know they love each other, Okaasan. I know it! And it’s frustrating for me to see them not do anything about it.”

“I know, but don’t worry, Dear. They will get over this little tiff and be stronger for it. I got the feeling that Y/N might have some trust issues. She just needs to get passed her past in order to move forwards. Hopefully with Daichi. She just needs time.”

“Wait! Whatdoyouknow?!! Whathappenedinherpast? Unless, you mean her parents? Why would that cause her trust issues? Maybe if I showed her the photos, she would feel better about it and move forward?”

“It might… Or it might not. You have to be careful, Suga. Meddling doesn’t always work out the way you like. And let me tell you, intentions don’t matter. In pretty much all scenarios too, not just this one. Intention doesn’t matter. You could mean well, and have the purest intentions, but if someone ends up hurt because of your actions, then the fact that your intentions were pure, doesn’t change the fact they suffered. Does that make sense?”

Bokuto felt terrible from last night, and it wasn’t just his hangover. So he knocked on the door to Daichi’s apartment to smooth things over with his friend.

“Hey.” Bokuto greeted with a small wave. Too distressed to finish his greeting with the gusto he normally has. “Can I come in?”

Daichi was the one to answer the door, because Suga is on the phone in his room and Asahi is happily cooking omelettes for the energetic out-of-towners, Tanaka and Noya.

Upon seeing Bokuto, Daichi exhaled and rubbed his face in frustration, thinking over his options.  
“Fine.” So he moved aside to let his obviously nervous friend, enter the apartment before closing the door. He invited Bokuto in to the living space where he was welcomed by the people hanging around the kitchen.

“HEY BO!” cried Noya before he asked Asahi to made sure his omelette has some spice to it.

“WHAT’S UP MA NERD?!”

“Hey guys. I’m here to apologize to Daichi.”

“What? No _‘Hey, hey, hey’_?” asked Tanaka.

“No.” Bokuto stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feel. “I fucked up.”

The friends in the kitchen gave them both a knowing look and then a thumbs up before Asahi said, “Everything will work out guys. Don’t worry. We’ve all been friends for a really long time.”

Daichi tugged on Bokuto’s shirt to get back his attention. “Let’s talk in my room.”

He didn’t want their awkward, but personal, conversation to be overheard, so they go to Daichi’s room to talk more privately. Bokuto took a seat on the neatly made bed and fiddled with his fingers nervously, while Daichi rested against his desk with his arms crossed over his chest and avoided eye contact.

“Daichi. I really fucked up. I tried to kiss Y/N and I saw you hulk out on that glass, which was impressive by the way. I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m _SO_ sorry. It’s all my fault. I don’t want to give you any excuses for my shitty behaviour because you deserve better and I hope you can forgive me. It won’t ever happen again. I’m so, so, so, so, so-”

“Bo. I understand. I over reacted. Y/N can kiss whoever she wants, and I know you like her too… It’s not like I’m her boyfriend.” It was clear to Bokuto that Daichi was bothered by his last sentence from the way that he muttered it; kind of like if he said it quiet enough, then it wouldn’t be true.

“Daichi. That doesn’t matter. You’re my friend. One of my best friends! I should never have done that. I was being a really bad friend. Suga actually yelled at me last night and _WOW._ Did you know that Suga could be so scary!?”

Daichi chuckled lightly while staring at his shoes, “Yeah. He can be sometimes.”

Bokuto was now beaming because he can see friend finally relaxing with a little smile. Maybe their friendship wasn’t lost. “He also told me you’re in love with her.”

Daichi snapped his eyes up to meet Bokuto, staring wide and mouth parting in surprise.

“Don’t worry. It wasn’t because Suga was ‘gossiping’ again or anything. I was just depressed and wanted to know why everyone was rooting for _you two_ to get together instead of me… I know you met her first but… I just thought she might like me. Now I know that she actually likes you.”

Daichi’s voice broke when he asked, “How do you know that?”

“Well, Suga showed me some cute photos of you guys. And if the way you both look at each other isn’t love, then I don’t know what is.”

“But Bo… I… I ruined it.”

“What? No you didn’t. Why? Because you raised your voice at her? Daichi, you were bleeding everywhere, had a lot to drink and you saw me try to kiss your girl. You were allowed to be upset.”

“No! I wasn’t! Not with her! She did nothing wrong. And alcohol can never be used as an excuse for yelling at someone… Or sleeping with someone...” He mumbled that last part.

“Tell that to Bitchimiya… Sorry!” Bokuto slapped his hands over his mouth, trying to retroactively stop his inappropriate outburst.

Thankfully Daichi just ignored it and continued with what he was saying. “Y/N was just trying to help me. You should have seen the look on her face…”

“Have you tried to call her?”

“She won’t answer.” Daichi put one hand over his eyes and his lower lip started to wobble. “She hates me now.”

“Daichi. She could never _hate_ you. She cares about you too much. She knows you’re not normally like that. And considering the circumstances, I think she will understand. You just _snapped.”_ Bokuto explained animatedly, waving his arms around to emphasis his point.

“I’m not allowed to _snap!”_

“Yes you are! Sometimes, at least. You’re not super-human, Daichi! Sometimes things get too much for us mere mortals to handle, and we snap! And sometimes that involves us doing something really stupid. Like drinking too much because you got stood up and then trying to kiss your friend’s girl… or yelling at that same girl. Gosh… we both _really_ need to apologize to her. Why don’t we go there now?”

“No. I think we should give her some space.” Daichi knows in his gut that it is the right thing to do. If Y/N wanted to talk then she would answer the phone or reply to his messages. So rocking up unannounced at her apartment would only make things worse.

“Why? Are you scared she will judo flip you? Because I have to say that I was thinking the same thing. She is pretty good at it.”

Y/N furiously cleaned her whole apartment. Top to bottom. She even dusted the cornices and cleaned the blinds. She organised her pantry and cleaned out the whole fridge. Cleaning happens to be one of Y/N’s methods of anxiety management. Especially when life becomes too much to handle and she needed to reboot her brain. She doesn’t know what to do about Daichi. He seemed so mad at her last night. She came to the conclusion that she had just pushed him too far. She thought she was trying to be nice and help him, but maybe she came across as pushy and over bearing. It wouldn’t be the first that time she was told that.

It didn’t even cross her mind that Daichi might have been upset over the ‘near kiss’ with Bokuto. She actually forgot that it even happened. In the moment, Y/N was so caught up in her tipsy thoughts about her ex, that she didn’t see it coming. Bokuto had leaned in for a kiss. But the moment Y/N got out of her head, she turned away from Bokuto to see Daichi bleeding. So she didn’t dismiss this idea because she didn’t think what happened with Bokuto mattered, she just genuinely forgot that it even happened. 

So Y/N planned to continue to ignoring Daichi’s calls and messages, until she figured out what to do. It would be hard to be around Daichi after what happened. She didn’t know how to act around him, or how to hide her feelings. It’s times like this that she really wishes she could talk to her mother. She always had the answers.

Next Chapter: Past Experiences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Fun fact, I did actually hulk out on a glass once. Not in anger, but because I was trying to catch it as it fell, with my speedy ninja skills. I ended up crushing it in my hand and I needed 5 stitches…. Weird brag, I know.  
> (･ω･)v


	21. Past Experiences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend passes and Daichi tries to smooth things over with Y/N.  
> Y/N finally shares her past.

Chapter Twenty-One: Past Experiences.

Daichi is leaning at the kitchen bench, watching the clock and drinking coffee. He decided last night that he would go to Y/N’s apartment earlier than he normally would on a Monday, so that he could try and apologise before they left for the police academy. He also wouldn’t put it past her to sneak out early in an effort to avoid seeing him, considering she had ignored him all weekend. 

He’d tried very hard not to bug her too much with calls and texts, because he believed she needed space. However, that didn’t stop him from sending a couple of messages here and there so that she knew he was still thinking about her.

Suga and Asahi had already left the apartment when the time came for Daichi to leave; but before he went to Y/N’s apartment, he would first pick up their usual Monday coffees from a café close by. He hoped that their Monday coffee routine might return some normalcy to their relationship and help her forgive him for what he did at Suga’s birthday. Although, he wasn’t sure his plan would work, or even if she wanted to see him. 

Ironically, his friends had been strangely vague in any advice they offered since Friday night. The one time he wanted his friends’ input, they decided that it wasn’t their place to meddle.

When Daichi arrives at Y/N’s apartment door, coffees balancing in one hand, he raises the other to knock. However, just as he is about to make contact, the door flies open from the other side and he is faced with a startled Y/N, holding her bag and keys. She let out a little yelp sound when she discovered him standing there, that Daichi actually found very cute.

“Hey… Uhh, sorry. I was about to knock and then…” he gestured to Y/N who was still holding the door handle on the other side of the threshold. “Umm… I was hoping we could talk... I got you a coffee!”

“Oh! Uhh, thanks,” she murmured, over-using filler words just like Daichi. “I, uh… I wanted to talk to you too actually.” 

So she gestured for him to come inside before putting her stuff down. She opted not to guide him in to the apartment very far, just in case she needed to escape from the conversation somehow. With all the thinking she did over the weekend, she still hadn’t come up with an exact plan on what to say and how to apologise to him.

He hands her the coffee, which she takes with another quiet thank you and then nervously looks at her feet.

Daichi broke the silence first. “Bambi. I am really, really, really sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you and-”

“No, Daichi. It’s okay,” she interrupted, waving off his unnecessary apology. Even though she didn’t have a plan, she knew that this wasn’t his fault and she couldn’t let him apologise for nothing. “Look, I’m sorry I never replied to you over the weekend. I just needed a little break from everyone I guess.” She said as she tried to smile but it didn’t reach her eyes. “And you don’t have to apologise to me. Really. It’s okay. I get it. I know I can be annoying sometimes. Or _‘overbearing’_ I guess is the word I should use.” 

That is where she lost him. Daichi didn’t understand why she thought that this was her fault, or why she used to air quotations for the word ‘overbearing’. That was way too specific for her to say, without having actually been called that by someone; and he knew it would never have come from him, because he thinks that Y/N is the prefect amount of ‘bearing’.

“Wait. What? Who the hell called you overbearing?!”

Y/N didn’t respond straight away. She was trying to get a read on the situation because he didn’t react the way she expected. If he didn’t think she was overbearing, then she had no idea what was going on.

“Bambi?” He pressed again. “Who called you over bearing?”

“Umm…… my ex.” Y/N said very quietly and from behind her coffee so that Daichi didn’t pick up on it at first. 

Once he registered what she had said, he was overcome with a multitude of feelings. He was angry at the thought that anyone could say something so hurtful to the girl he loved, and sad because it seemed to really affect her.

They had never talked about her ex-boyfriend before. He assumed she had a past relationship that had possibly ended badly, based on little things she said here and there. Though, he really had no idea how bad her last relationship was and how much it had affected her day to day.

“Oh. Shit. Y/N, I’m so sorry. There’s no way that is true. You’re NOT overbearing! I love….” Daichi caught himself and cleared his throat.  
_Close one._  
“I love spending time with you. I would never call you anything like that! You’re one of my best friends.”

_Ouch._ She wasn’t sure why her feelings still got hurt at him referring to her as a friend. They had said things like that to each other about a hundred times. She couldn’t fully comprehend the feeling, but she did guess it had something to do with her thinking that they were _both_ working their way to being something more than friends.

Since the Miyagi trip, things were a little different between them. Though they hadn’t spent much time alone together since then, that trip was momentous for her. Not just because of the cuddling and affection, but because she was able to talk to someone about her dreams and fears, _AND_ she was heard. He really listened to her and validated her feelings, which was more important to her than he would ever know. 

Daichi bit his tongue in annoyance at himself, because he hated using the word friend when refereeing to Y/N. She is so much more than that to him.

“Umm, what I meant is… uh…” Too late to backtrack his last comment, he continued with, “I just think your ex was wrong about you. He sounds like an total idiot. How come you haven’t mentioned him before?”

Truth be told, he was pretty happy that Y/N finally brought up her ex. He had so many questions that he had always been too nervous to ask her. He’d basically been an open book when it came to his own past relationships, but Y/N had always been a little taciturn.

Even now; silence.

“Y/N. You know you can talk to me about anything right? And I won’t snap at you!” He added that having realised he still hasn’t properly apologised for his behaviour. “I’m so, so sorry about that. I was just frustrated at myself and I can’t believe I did that. It really wasn’t because of you. You really are amazing and I hate myself for making you upset. God, you looked so sad. I’m so sorry!” At this point his was running his free hand, the one not holding his coffee, through his hair in frustration. For some reason he can’t find the correct words to express how sorry he is, and how he wishes he could turn back time.

“Daichi!” Y/N grabbed the wrist of the arm that was messing up his hair, and pulled it down so that his hand was in hers. She hoped that she might stop him from freaking out with some physical contact. 

He may not have found the words he wanted, but his level of distress from causing Y/N distress, perfectly illustrated how sorry he truly is; more than words could. 

“Daichi,” she cooed again. He seemed to be responding well to her touch. “It’s okay. Really. I forgive you for that. You don’t need to worry. I know you were just annoyed and you had hurt yourself… How is your hand by the way?”

Knowingly holding his injured hand, she gently turned it over to inspect it. He has a small cut along his palm that is healing very well. Well enough that he isn’t wearing a bandage anymore. She lightly brushed her fingers over the area, as if to appraise the damage. 

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the way her fingers felt as they ran over his palm. The contact sending butterflies through his whole body, which left him wanting Y/N’s touch to linger just a little more.  
“It’s fine. Thanks. Oh and thank you for helping me with it by the way. But… I really don’t want you to think that I’m annoyed with you or sick of you or anything.”

“Tch, yet.” She huffed in quiet self-ridicule as she let go of his palm and settled for grasping her cup with both hands. She then took a sip and walked the short distance to the kitchen to rest her cup on the counter.

“What do you mean? Of course I won’t.” He followed her and put down his own cup next to hers.

She didn’t think she said that loud enough for him to hear, so turned to stare at him like she had been caught.

“Y/N?” He asked cautiously. “What happened with your last boyfriend?”

Y/N then closed her eyes and dropped her head in defeat. She knew this question would be coming the moment she mentioned her ex. She took a deep breath in, and a slow breath out, in an attempt to sooth her own drumming heart. Even though she knew this topic would come up sooner or later, she hoped it would have been later, or even never. Her feelings were bubbling in her chest and it made it harder for her to breath. She knew Daichi would understand and he would only ever be wonderful about this, but she still hated talking about it. It always leads her down the path of self-deprecation that is hard to pull up from.

She bit her lip, looked up and in to Daichi’s concerned eyes, which softened when returning the gaze. “Well… It wasn’t the best relationship… He cheated on me.”

“Oh no. Bambi. I’m so sorry! Why didn’t you say anything before? You know that I understand what that’s like!”

“Well, I just didn’t want to talk about it.”

He released a sigh. “I guess that’s fair enough,” he responded softly. He brushed a hair behind her ear, that had fallen over her face, as she looked down in what he recognised as shame. He knew she shouldn’t feel shame about it because it could have never of been her fault, though having been though it himself, he understood why.

Still looking at her feet, and with Daichi still playing with her hair, Y/N discreetly added to her previous divulgence, “…with my best friend.”

Daichi had been standing pretty close to her when she spoke, and yet he didn’t pick up what she said. “Sorry, what was that? Something about your best friend?”

Speaking clearer this time, though still looking down, she confirmed, “He cheated on me with my best friend…”

Daichi was utterly shocked to hear it. How could someone so amazing, someone he loves so dearly, be betrayed by not just one, but two people who are supposed to care and look out for her. It didn’t make sense to him.

“…I guess he got bored of me or something. Or just liked her better. I don’t know…”

“Fuck.” He watched her as she just shrugged it off. There’s no way that she’s shrugging that off on the inside. “Y/N… I’m so sorry. Shit, that’s messed up. They are both total assholes! Damn it. Well, I guess that’s why you don’t talk about your other friends.”

Y/N nods.

Unable to resist the urge to comfort her, he wraps her up in a big hug. He tried to put all his feelings in to that crushing hug, and even managed to lift her off the ground before she complained that she couldn’t breathe. So he put her down and tried to part from the hug, which she refused to let go of.

“No, I want a hug. I just also want to be able to breathe.” 

He chuckled at her actions and then speaks softly into her hair, as she finds comfort in his chest. “Bambi, I’m so sorry. That guy is obviously an idiot if he can’t see how great you are. Hell, your friend too. They don’t deserve you. You’re perfect in every way. You’re one of a kind, remember? Plus, you’re NEVER overbearing. I can’t believe someone would actually say that to you. Was that his shitty excuse for cheating on you?”  
_They always have a shitty excuse,_ he thought.

“Well, no… I don’t know… I didn’t actually stick around to talk to him about it. I just kind of… left. I haven’t seen them since.” She played with the fabric of his shirt and tried to hold back any tears. It was relieving to hear this stuff coming from Daichi, but at the same time, there was that voice in the back of her mind telling her that he doesn’t mean any of it. She didn’t want to be made a fool of again.

“Damn. Okay… Wait, so he said that stuff to you about being overbearing _before_ he cheated?” Daichi pulled back from the hug to look at her face and get a gauge of her emotions. He isn’t sure how far this topic would push her and he could see she is already a upset from the way her lips quivered.

“Yeah. I guess. He would say stuff like that sometimes. Even comment on how other girls looked or whatever. He would always have a crowd of girls after him and it made me uncomfortable… so he called me overbearing.” 

“Fuck.” He plays with her hair again. “Yeah, I know the type. I met one of those guys in school. Bambi, that guy is a fucking prick and has a twisted way of thinking. If he’s dumb enough to let you go, then I think you can easily dismiss any of the shit he said because it’s not true.”

Y/N is sort of shocked at Daichi swearing. He never usually swears like this. She bet that it was because this topic was close to home for him too. He could truly understand her frustrations, which made Y/N feel less isolated. So she pulled him in for yet another hug, grateful to have him in her life.

Daichi responded by giving her a gentle kiss on the top of her head before continuing to speak, “Bambi. Please don’t let anything that guy said get to you, okay? Just ignore it all. He is obviously an idiot and has no idea about anything. And as for the friend… Well she is just as stupid. Trust me, you are the sweetest, most beautiful and kindest person I’ve ever met. She should have been bending over backwards to be your friend. So forget about that dumbass too! They both suck.”

“Okay. Thanks Daichi,” she sniffled into his chest.

Daichi took a deep breath in and out, and continued to hug her. He felt a little sense of gratification that she was talking about this with him. He’d always wanted her to be comfortable enough to put trust in him.

“We’re okay though right? I mean, you know I’d never betray you like that.”

“What?” she said sarcastically as she pulled out of the hug. “You mean that if I had a boyfriend, then you _wouldn’t_ sleep with him out of loyalty to me? Or if you were my boyfriend then you _wouldn’t_ sleep with my best friend?”

“Either?” he shrugged showing amusement.

“Ha! Well, that would be difficult anyway, because you’re already by best friend. So if you were my boyfriend then it’s not like you could sleep with yourself…. Wait…No... That came out wrong.” She face-palmed herself.

Daichi couldn’t help but double over in laughter at her accidental insinuation. She was so terribly embarrassed about basically describing masturbation, that he found it hysterical.

“Oh my god! Shut up! You know I didn’t mean it like that!!”

“You’re so weird, Bambi. I love it.” He declared, trying to stifle his laughter as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Still though, I’m sorry for yelling at you. I’ll make it up to you. There’s a festival that starts this week and I’d love to take you. Maybe this weekend?” 

He was hardly given the change to mull over the fact that he just asked Y/N out on what seemed like a very date-like date, before the sound of his phone filled the room.  
“Sorry, it’s my phone… Oh, it’s Bokuto,” he added as he saw the caller ID. He then looked at Y/N sheepishly, as if expecting her to be irritated at the mention of their owlish friend.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“Well, umm, I mean I don’t want to upset you. Aren’t you annoyed at him or something? I mean, I just assumed. Unless you actually did want to kiss him… then… well if you did, then I guess you would have...”

“Kiss him? Eh? What are you talking about?”

“Suga’s birthday….” She still looked confused. “…Bo tried to kiss you…” Still a blank face.

And then it hit her.  
“FUCK! I fucking forgot about that! OH MY GOD! I have to kick his ass! What the fuck was he thinking! My god! Oh… well then I guess that explains his weird messages,” she added as she pulled her phone from her back pocket to show Daichi.

At this point Daichi started laughing again. “Oh my god! You forgot! You didn’t even seem that drunk. Wow!”

“Shut up, okay! I was preoccupied!”

“Right! Sorry, sorry! If it makes you feel any better, he feels really bad. Plus, both Suga and Kuroo yelled at him _a lot._ Oh and he’s also scared you’re gunna judo flip him.”

“Well that does make me feel a little better. But eghhhhhh, I really don’t wanna deal with this today…”

“Oh? Are you okay? Did you get much sleep? You didn’t have any more nightmares again did you? Oh no! If this is because I caused you stress and then you had-”

“No! No, Daichi. I didn’t. I just stayed up late binging this cute volleyball anime I found. I haven’t had one of those dreams since I talked to you about it…” She went from looking at his chest, to up to his eyes where she recognized the look on his face as pride. 

“See. I told you that talking about it would make you feel better.”

“Shut up.” 

He laughed and then added, “Really Bambi. You can talk to me about anything. Whether it your dreams or your asshole ex-boyfriend and shitty friend. I’ll always listen.” Happiness and affection were visible in his gaze.

His phone rings again, but this time he answers it. “Hi… Yeah, sorry we’re on our way…. Yes, I’m with Bambi… I dunno if she’ll flip you… You’ll have to wait and see... Okay… Bye.”

Daichi hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. “Oh! Bambi, I’m sorry! I was meaning to say… We don’t have to go to classes if you don’t want to. I mean, you said you didn’t wanna deal with this today. So we can just, I dunno, take the day off. Stay here and relax.”

“No, it’s okay. We should go or we’ll fall behind. Plus, I need to give Bokuto a beating for his behaviour the other night.”

By now Daichi was certain that Y/N didn’t have any feelings for his former romantic rival, although it was still nice to hear it. Daichi gave her a sweet smile that reached his chocolate eyes and pulled her back into one last quick hug before they had to leave. 

So they picked up their bags, and their coffees, then exited the apartment. After Y/N locked her door, she offered up her arm and asked, “Shall we?”

“Such a gentleman,” Daichi joked, linking his arm with hers.

“Well, Bambi is a boy after all. Plus, his mother died so if the shoe fits.” She joked back.

Daichi stopped dead in his tracks, which resulted in Y/N being pulled back abruptly.  
He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t realised it before.

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“What? What, what, what?” she mimicked.

“Oh my god! Bambi! I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think of that! Oh shit. I can’t believe we’ve been calling you that this whole time! I thought you just hated the nickname because it insinuated that you were wobbly on your feet, and you hate being called clumsy! Crap! Y/N please forgive me! I’m so sorry!”

“What? Oh no, come on Daichi. Not once did I ever think you called me that because of my parents. I knew you were just playing with me. It’s totally fine. I kind of like the name now. It’s actually grown on me and makes me feel like I have real friends because you guys are the only ones who call me that.”

“Shit.” He whispered to himself as he ran his hand down his face, still shocked that he hadn’t seen it sooner. “Are you sure? We can stop calling you that right now if you want!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” She relinked her arm with his. “Now, come on. Let’s go or we’ll be late.”

“I promise. I really did just call you that because of your clumsiness. Oh, and because you have doe eyes.”

“I have doe eyes?”

“What? You’re kidding. Like you don’t know. You do that cute little face when you look up and me and your eyes are all wide- SEE, YOU’RE DOING IT NOW!” he pointed out.

“Yeah right! It might seem like that to you guys, but that’s just because I always have to look up. You’re all so frikkin tall!”

They both laughed and joked as they made their way to class. Arms joined and absentmindedly playing with each other’s fingers. Anyone they passed by would assume that they were dating with the way they were behaving.

When they arrived on campus, Y/N gave Bokuto a swift hit to the head and said, “Don’t do that again.” For which he whimpered in response and begged for forgiveness. He was actually just happy that she didn’t judo flip him. Especially because there were no safety mats around.

Next Chapter: The Flower Festival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I'm over 60,000 words. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و
> 
> AND! 
> 
> It's officially been one month since I started writing this story! Thank you to everyone who has read it and left me sweet comments! It means a lot!!  
> (人･㉨･)♡


	22. The Flower Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Flower Festival. Is it a date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took so long for me to get through because for some reason I decided to re-read and edit the last 21 chapters just to make sure there weren’t any typos or inconsistencies before I started to wrap this story up.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Flower Festival

The flower festival in the city is held every year around this time, as it commemorates the blossoming of the local flora; which are spectacularly beautiful and brightly coloured. So it stands to reason that the festival itself would also be filled with bright coloured decorations and charming flower themes. 

Since it is Saturday, the streets are filled with masses people of all ages, some dressed up in yukata and some in street clothes. Booths with many different attractions line the walkways that surround a park with picnic areas and blooming flowers for the patrons to admire. The brightly coloured booths varied between entertainment, carnival games, souvenirs and different kinds of food. Elaborate floral floats with sparkling lanterns filled the main streets as the sun began its decent; and fireworks are on the agenda for when the sky becomes dark enough. 

As Daichi had promised, he arranged for Y/N to join him at the festival for a date-like, non-official but still felt like a date, date. Once their friends (Suga, Kuroo, Asahi and Bokuto), caught wind of their plans, they decided to tag along. Suga invited his girlfriend Kiyoko, and Kuroo invited his boyfriend Kenma. Asahi and Bokuto were the only ones left without dates, that is if you counted the pairing of Y/N and Daichi as being a ‘real date’. 

Suga and Kiyoko had opted to wear matching yukatas at the silver-haired man’s request, because why wouldn’t he want to flaunt that he is dating his dream girl. However, Y/N and Daichi had decided that Yukata’s were just ‘too damn difficult’ to walk in, so they, along with the rest of the group, decided to wear street clothes.

The group of friends had mostly stayed together throughout the festival, though Suga, Kiyoko and Asahi had recently wandered off in search of snacks, and left the others by the game booths. With the collective competitiveness of the remaining bunch, there was no doubt that there would be rivalry when it came to the carnival games. Especially between Kuroo and Bokuto, who had already spent a good amount of money on a game that involved water guns. Kenma protestesd that Kuroo was wasting money on trying to beat Bokuto, to which Kuroo would reply, “... how’s this different to spending money on video games?”

“At least with my video games, I can play them over and over without wasting more money. …and I’m actually good at them.”

“Such sass, Kitten… But I want to win you that picture frame.” Kuroo pointed and used his most convincing smile along with his favourite nickname for Kenma, in an effort to persuade him.

Daichi, who is known to be just as competitive, though a little tamer than his friends, swooped in before the others could and won the first choice at a prize. The middle-aged male attendant of the booth suggested that he get his girlfriend, gesturing to Y/N, a cute fuzzy bear covered in pink love hearts.

For the first time in their relationship, Y/N didn’t correct the person who assumed they were dating, and instead responded, “Why would I want a stuffed toy? What am I gunna do with that? I’d probably just store it away in a cupboard somewhere, never to see seen again.” Her face showing genuine confusion as to why someone would want a stuffed toy; especially a sickeningly sweet one at that. 

Thoroughly amused Y/N’s blunt statement, Daichi couldn’t help but double over and laugh while clutching on to her shoulder for support. In turn, she found Daichi’s reaction humorous and joined in on the giggling.

“Fair point deary. Fair point. I guess you’re not the girly-romantic type. I see your friend is going for that picture frame, which he is _definitely_ going to win soon with his skills,” the attendant aimed that last comment at Kuroo with a ‘thumbs-up’ in an attempt to butter him up for another go. “Why don’t you get a matching frame. You can put a picture of you and your boyfriend in it. I have them in different styles and colours.”

Before Y/N could explain to the man that they weren’t dating, even though its none of his business, and even though she wished otherwise, Daichi pointed to the blue wooden frame in the shape of a dog. “That one please.”

Chuffed with his prize, Daichi accepted the frame and passed it over to Y/N for her to inspect.  
“If you put that picture of us eating ice cream in there, I will have to confiscate this.” He warned, which turned Y/N’s beaming smile into a pout. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that it’s your phone wallpaper. Do you just enjoy seeing me look like a pig?” 

The photo he was referring to, was the one Y/N took of the two of them eating ice cream after a jog from a few weeks back. The one where he had his face covered in ice cream and looked a mess, while Y/N looked cute as ever. And yes, it was definitely the chosen wallpaper for her phone, because how could she possibly chose anything else after taking that picture.

After being called out for having a photo of Daichi as her wallpaper, Y/N blushed in embarrassment and then argued, “In fact, yes I do. I think you looking like a pig is very enjoyable and worthy of a wallpaper. Such a cute little piggy.” She then poked Daichi’s unimpressed face on the cheek in an effort to get him to smile, which he did in time.

“Why do people keep calling me fat?” Daichi muttered to himself while rubbing his definitely not fat, but rather chiselled abdomen.

“You’re not fat Daichi. You’re very just muscular. Right, Bambi?” Kuroo flashed Y/N a mischievous wink after overhearing Daichi’s half-hearted yet rhetorical question. The tall bed-headed man had given in one more time to the allure of the water gun game and finally came out winning a similar frame; but red and in the shape of a cat. Kenma didn’t admit out loud that the frame his boyfriend chose was actually perfect and worth the hassle.

“Duh. Why else would we call him Thighchi?” Y/N joked in response to Kuroo’s teasing, but not really ‘joking’ because she still admired those thighs, which unfortunately for now, are covered by jeans. 

“I think Suga has some photos of you guys that you can put in that frame?” Kuroo slyly hinted, which earned an elbow to the ribs from Bokuto.

The owlish friend then leaned over to whisper in Kuroo’s ear, “I thought he decided not to meddle anymore.” Bokuto wasn’t objecting to the ‘photo collection reveal’ because he was jealous, (he genuinely wasn’t anymore and he had actually been invited to join the _‘Operation Get Daichi to Confess’_ group chat), he just honestly thought that Suga called it off.

“Well, I _DISAGREE_ ,” Kuroo quietly argued though gritted teeth. He understood where Suga was coming from, especially after the disaster of setting up Bokuto with a bad match who stood him up. However, Suga wasn’t the only wingman in the group. Kuroo openly disagreed with Suga’s backpedalling on his scheme, and even offered to take the blame if things went sideway; which he was certain would _NOT_ happen. He knows love when he sees it, having experienced it with Kenma, and didn’t want his cherished friend to miss out. There was _no way_ that giving his timid friends a push in the right direction, with some hints and harmless photos, would be a bad idea. He’d just have to convince the others to agree first.

Later in the evening Kuroo, Kenma, Asahi and Bokuto set out to save a spot on a grassy hill in the park for when the fireworks would start. The girls of the group decided on a little activity for the two of them, which was greatly appreciated by Y/N given that she has no close female friends. So as the sky turned orange and the sun had almost faded away, Y/N and Kiyoko exited the face panting booth to return to the company of their ‘dates’. 

Kiyoko had a few floral decals applied to the side of her face, which complemented her glasses. Suga gushed at her beauty for a few moments and took a picture of her before they both rushed off to the booth next door, as fast as they could while wearing yukatas, to get some sparklers for when they join the rest of the group for the fireworks.

When Y/N approached Daichi with her arms behind her back and a wide cheeky smile, he of course thought she was stunning, but he struggled to see any face paint. 

Not being able to take Daichi’s questioning look any longer, Y/N caved and explained, “I chose this instead!” She moved her arms out from behind her back to reveal what looked like a headband, which she then rushed to put on. 

Deer antlers.

_CUTE!_

Daichi attempted to let out a small laugh, though his breath got caught in his chest. 

Literally _breath-taking._

His feelings for her started bubbling over while his pulse quickened. His mouth upturned into a slight smile and his eyes traced Y/N’s adorable grinning face, over the antlers in her sweet scented hair, into her sparkling eyes and then down to her soft pink lips. 

Daichi absentmindedly licked his own lips and leaned in a little closer. His body barely a whisper in front of her as he reached his hand up to tap her nose gently.  
“Maybe you should get a deer nose painted on, Bambi” he spoke lowly; which felt appropriate for how close their faces are to each other. His index moved from her nose to trace the line of her jaw. “It would match the antlers, plus you’re looking at me with those doe eyes again.”

Damn that was corny, but at this point, Y/N’s grin had faded. Her face flushed and her own breath caught in her chest as she stared up and into Daichi’s half lidded eyes. 

**CLICK!**

Okay. Suga couldn’t help it. He had given up the whole photo meddling plan, but what was one more photo if the subjects were about to kiss anyway. This was way too cute of a moment to not capture, and he was sure they would appreciate it when all is said and done.

Except, just a moment after his flash went off ( _damn stupid phone had auto flash on_ ), Daichi was bumped into by a passer-by, shoving the couples near kiss off target. 

Suga, who was furious that the couple he had been shipping for so long didn’t end up kissing, was at least grateful that his flash photography blunder wasn’t the thing that ruined their moment.

Instead, the offender was a man over 6 foot, with quaffed brown hair. “Oops, sorry about that.” 

Suga, shocked to actually recognised the man, stayed put next to Kiyoko and watched as the scene before them unfolded.

Daichi, who had broken from his trance by the rough contact, turned around and opened his mouth for a reflex apology, until he too recognised the man.  
_Unsurprisingly, he’s as gaudy as ever._

“Oh my, my, my. If it isn’t the captain of the crows. Long time, no see.” The man sang and then turned his attention to an utterly shattered looking Y/N. “I see you’ve met little Y/N over here.”

Y/N’s breath escaped her yet again, but this time from despair. She prayed that that voice wasn’t who she thought it was and that this wasn’t actually happening. Her despair quickly dissolved into anger when she looked up at the smug, fake smile plastered on the man who broke her heart.

“What the _hell_ are you doing here, Oikawa?” Y/N snapped as she balled her hands at her side.

Daichi, confused by the nature of the relationship between his old volleyball rival and Y/N, looked between the two as they picked at each other with carefully chosen, assertive words.

“I’m here for the festival, _obviously._ Boy, it seems like you guys are pretty close there. You wouldn’t be dating would you? I guess it is a small world after all.” Oikawa’s posture was casual and inviting as he spoke, and his voice silky and flirtatious, but Y/N knew all too well that the man was trying rile her up.

“That’s none of your business!” Y/N grabbed Daichi’s hand, squeezed it tight and pulled on it to drag them both out of the troublesome situation. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re leav-”

“Y/N!!!!” Her name was called out by another familiar voice, stopping Y/N dead in her tracks. A fresh wave of dread and shock washed over her, which Daichi could sense from how tight she was squeezing his hand.

A woman with long golden hair, and the large breasts that Y/N had often compared herself to when she was putting herself down, waltzed up and encased her in a large unsolicited hug.  
“Oh, I’ve missed you! How have you been? I haven’t seen you in so long.” The ‘friend’ used a fake cheerful tone and an equally fake smile, before removing herself from the hug to stand beside Oikawa and hold his hand.

Y/N held her breath and remained ridged through the hug, continuing to squeeze onto Daichi’s hand throughout, as if it was her only lifeline. Once freed from the upsetting embrace, her eyes focus on the hands of the couple in front of her, who were acting cheerful; as if they weren’t responsible for Y/N’s unhappiness and trust issues.

Taking a discrete but large breath, Y/N then responded coldly. “Oh really? I didn’t miss you, Airi.”  
She couldn’t help but be defensive. Her blood began pumping as if she was in the middle of an intense marathon. All she could see was red and her vision narrowed as her world shook.  
_How fucking dare they!_

Daichi, now seeming to catch on, asked in disbelief, “Wait. Oikawa is your ex-boyfriend?”

“Unfortunately,” Y/N replied through gritted teeth, which caused Oikawa to throw his head back and laugh forcefully.

“Now, now, Y/N. There’s no need for any unpleasantness. Let’s be civilised here,” he sang. The flippant man oozed confidence which only added to the patronising nature of his speech. “You’re so much cuter when you smile. Plus, you’ll get wrinkles if you frown like that.”

Daichi’s eyes grew wide at Oikawa’s condescending comment, knowing that it was a trigger for Y/N when people told her to smile.

“What the hell, Oikawa. You can’t just say that to people,” she argued, never letting go of Daichi’s hand.

“Let’s calm down now. No need to get hysterical. I think you’re over reacting a bit here.”

“What!? Well, how the hell am I supposed to react? I haven’t seen you since I saw you fucking Airi in your dorm. First you flirt around with other girls in front of me and make me feel bad about it, and then you fuck my best friend. Oh _AND_ after all this time you _STILL_ think it’s okay to talk to me like this and comment on how I should look and act. Don’t you fucking know it’s not okay to tell a girl to smile! Or that you shouldn’t tell your girlfriend what to wear or what to eat so that she doesn’t gain weight.”

“WHAT!” Yelled Daichi. “He fucking said what!?”

“Okay, now you really are over reacting. I was joking when I said that okay. And you left pretty fast without even talking to us about it,” Oikawa defended while holding up his hand wrapped with Airi’s, just to further illustrate that the _‘us’_ in his scenario meant him and her ex-best friend. “You’re like a robot or something, Y/N. We all know that you never actually _loved_ me. So really, where’s the harm?”

That hit Y/N where it hurt. She knew exactly what he was referring to. She clearly despised him and how he treated her, yet she couldn’t help but harbour some guilt. After over a year of dating Oikawa, she never told him that she loved him. He said it all the time, but Y/N just wasn’t able to say those important words in return.

Y/N glared daggers at her ex-boyfriend as her eyes glossed over with the beginnings of what could quickly turn into a waterfall of tears. Daichi moved closer, pressed his side into Y/N and wrapped an arm around her waist as a show of solidarity and support. He didn’t know what else to do.

“Come on now. You can’t deny that fact. You can’t actually love anyone. I don’t think it’s possible for you.” He then turned his attention to Daichi. “Sawamura, you should probably watch out for that. Sure she can be friendly, maybe even like someone, but she’s _way_ too closed off to actually _love_ anyone.”

Daichi scowled at Oikawa, unsure of what to say. He didn’t know if what the other man said was true or not, but he made sure to be weary of anything that came out of the manipulative playboy’s mouth.

Oikawa then continued to pick at Y/N’s composure by adding, “Don’t think I didn’t notice how you would only every reply to _‘I love you’_ with, _‘yeah me too’_ or _‘same here’._

Y/N, filled with shame at her own inability to say the words that Oikawa must have been desperate to here and thus drove him to other woman, looked down at her feet. “So that’s why you cheated on me… because I didn’t tell you I loved you?” She spoke softly, defeated and avoiding eye contact.

 _Hell no. There’s no way they are going to blame this on her,_ Daichi thought.  
“Well, Oikawa. Maybe you’re just not that great of a guy. You can’t expect someone as amazing as her to fall in love with someone as shallow as you.” Daichi spoke out, giving Y/N’s hip a squeeze.

“Um ExCuSe YoU!” the shitty friend, Airi yelled; which earned a pleased smile from Oikawa. “You don’t know anything about my Tooru!”

“Actually I do.” Daichi defended. “Oikawa has always been an ass. Even during volleyball, he was a bad sport. I’m actually surprised Y/N went out with someone like him. She is _wayyy_ too good for him. Though, _YOU,_ being the shitty friend that you are, you seem like you and Oikawa suit each other pretty well.”

“What the hell, man!” Oikawa spat, moving forward to get up in Daichi’s face. “I’m actually _TOO_ good for Y/N!” Airi furiously nodding in agreement as Oikawa continued. “She’s damaged. Just because her parents died, doesn’t mean she gets to walk around like other people’s feelings aren’t important.”

“Watch it, Oikawa,” Daichi warned in a guttural voice that is gravely and low, made from deep in the back of his throat.

At this point Suga, still within earshot, couldn’t not step in. He didn’t want the situation to escalate, so he let go of Kiyoko’s hand and moved forward while requesting them all to settle down. Suga became well practiced in calming down the kids at his school from when they would get into fights, and that skill was coming in handy in this particular moment.

Responding to Suga’s plea, Oikawa flipped his hair dramatically and returned to Airi’s side. “Whatever. She’s you’re problem now. Good luck with that.” 

And with that, the troublesome couple walked away to some other part of the festival. Unconcerned with the damage they just caused.

Those left behind, stood in silence for a moment to collect their thoughts and assess what just happened.

Kiyoko spoke first as she approached her friend who continued to stare at her shoes in defeat “Bambi, are you okay?”

Y/N slowly raised her head and looked towards her friends’ concerned faces and then turned to look at Daichi. She didn’t get a chance to gauge his expression before he pulled her into a big hug and spoke softly into her hair.  
“Bambi, I’m so sorry. Don’t listen to him okay. He’s just a manipulative asshole. He’s always been that way. If you didn’t love him, then you didn’t love him. And that’s okay. What he did is not your fault. And he shouldn’t have brought up your parents like that.”

Y/N loosely accepted the hug and place her hands on the small of Daichi’s back. She didn’t know what to do. Up until now, she was having such a nice time with Daichi, and then Oikawa showed up. She had no idea that he was even in the city, and she had no idea that Daichi and Oikawa knew each other.  
This became a lot of information for Y/N to process, along with the utterly crushing feeling of seeing that Oikawa and Airi are still together. She’d hoped that their affair burned up as badly as her relationship with them did; even if it was petty to wish that.

“To be honest, Bambi. I’m surprised you’d go for a guy like that. I know the girls all think he’s amazing or whatever, but I thought you might be a little bit different.”

That was not what she needed to hear. Y/N hastily pulled out of the hug and looked up at Daichi, anger evident in her expression. “So you think I’m just some heartless fan girl who goes out with popular boys and pretends to love them for kicks? That’s not fair, Daichi.”  
She turned to walk away but Daichi reached out to catch her hand and pull her back to face him. 

“No! Wait! Y/N! That’s not what I meant! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m really sorry, I just misspoke!” He was desperate to make her understand that he didn’t mean it the way it sounded. “I just meant that you guys are so different!”

“I’m not like that, Daichi.”

“I know, Bambi. I know you’re not,” he responded more calmly this time and encompassing both her hands with his larger warm ones.

“I just…” she started while tearing up and looking at their connected hands. “I didn’t mean to isolate him. I did love him. Well, I thought I did at the time. I just… I just couldn’t say it.”

Feeling brave, Daichi asked gently, “Why not?”  
_She’s starting to open up about this. It’s probably not the best time, considering we’re in the middle of a festival, but at least she will be able to get this off her chest. If she doesn’t then she might never get over it._

Daichi was known for his patience, and now he is finally about to be rewarded with Y/N’s trust.  
She breathed out deeply to calm herself down in preparation for her response.  
“That was the last thing I said to my parents before they died. And I know how that sounds. Like it’s cliché or something… or out of a bad drama. But those words just remind me of them and what happened…” Y/N’s eyes started brimming with tears. “They were dropping me off at school so that I could go to volleyball camp, before they went out on a date for their anniversary in the city… after they dropped me off, a drunk driver hit them. I was on the phone to them when it happened... It’s so stupid. I was calling them about how I forgot to pack something, I don’t remember what. That was the last thing I said to them before I heard the crash and then then line went dead… I told them I loved them and then they…”

“Oh no. You heard it happen? That’s awful, Bambi. I’m so sorry.” Daichi squeezed her hands comfortingly.  
Suga and Kiyoko, who had been standing nearby throughout her story, patted Y/N comfortingly on her back and shoulder as she sniffed and wiped her eyes.

“Bambi, I know this might not be the right thing to say. I mean, I doubt I can ever really understand what you went through, but… isn’t that a good thing that you said you loved them. I mean… that the last thing you said to them was something so nice, and not something boring and trivial… like about sandwiches...?”

“Sandwiches?” Y/N looked up questioningly.

“Eghh, sorry.” Daichi self-consciously rubbed the back of his head. “That was just the first thing that came into my mind. You know what I mean though, right? Although what happened was horrible, at least they knew you loved them.”

“Yeah. I guess. It’s just... That’s for them. Those words are for them. So I don’t think I could say it properly to someone else without thinking about what happened, and that just makes me feel…” 

She couldn’t speak any more without letting out large sobs, so she opted to stop talking. 

Daichi understood and brushed some of the fresh tears away with his thumb, before he looked into her eyes lovingly. “It’s okay, Bambi. I get it. It makes you sad. You never have to do anything that you don’t want to do, or that you’re uncomfortable with. And if Oikawa can’t understand that, then he can just fuck off. Actually, he can just fuck off all the time. I hate that guy.”

Y/N lips upturned into a tiny smile at Daichi’s unexpected use of swear words. He wasn’t one to ever really swear like that except for when he was passionately mad about something. So hearing him say things like that, validated her feelings.

“Thank you for telling me, Bambi. I know it’s hard for you to talk about this stuff.” Daichi removed his hand from her cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Thanks Thighchi,” Y/N sniffed and grinned, after using his nickname in an attempt to lighten the mood.

So he chuckled in return and suggested, “So how about a sandwich though? Or some other food. I’m actually hungry. Unless you want to go home now? I’ll go with you.”

“No! I want to stay for the fireworks!”

“Okay. We’ll stay.” Daichi smiled and moved to kiss Y/N on the crown of her head. “Ouch!” He jumped back.

Everyone laughed at him and Y/N asked “You okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I just poked myself in the face with one of the antlers on your headband.”

“HA! Who’s the clumsy one now!”

“Shut up… It’s still you, Bambi,” he joked.

The festival continued without any further drama. The joyous mood returned as they ate and stayed late until the fireworks lit up the sky with bright colours and patterns

**CLICK!**

The last photo of the night was taken by Kuroo who was sitting behind Daichi and Y/N. He couldn’t help but capture the moment, as the couple before him looked into each other’s eyes instead of watching the spectacular fireworks.

_‘Operation Get Daichi to Confess’_

Kuroo: Attach 1 image.  
Kuroo: They really are stupidly in love aren’t they.

Sugawara: Attach 1 image.  
Sugawara: Yep. Pretty sure they were about to kiss before Oikawa showed up.

Bokuto: HEY HEY HEY!! CUTE PICS!! (*≧∀≦*)  
Bokuto: Also… WHAT!? What the hell is Oikawa doing here?

Asahi: Didn’t Noya and Tanaka say that they saw him on the train?

Kuroo: Oya, oya? Suga takin a cheeky pic? You back on-board wingman? (o^-’)b

Sugawara: Shut up Kuroo.  
Sugawara: Maybe.

Next Chapter: The Photo Collection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO MUCH DRAMA!  
> Ooooooh! Did you guys pick up on the subtle hints at the identity of Bambi’s ex in all the chapters before he appeared?  
> Fucking love you Oikawa. So sorry it’s all for the plot and not in the fake way that I was apologising to Michimiya. lol Mwa mwa
> 
> Also, anyone got any tips on how to stay focused? I keep getting distracted lately! (/ω＼)


	23. The Photo Collection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Photo Collection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yewww. It's Suga's birthday today.  
> (･ω･)b

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Photo Collection

Sometimes Daichi likes to go for a run alone. As much as he enjoys the company of his friends and Y/N (who is not included in the friend genre, because he’s still completely in love with her), he likes to take some time alone to think. This particular run’s purpose is to reflect on the events of the night before, and sort through his options on how to proceed.

Last night, after the festival, Daichi dropped Y/N off at her door. He took off her headband, because he didn’t want to get poked in the face by the antlers again, and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Y/N appeared to take the sentiment well, because she beamed up at him with her contagious smile and sparkling doe eyes, before she wished him goodnight and went inside.

Their relationship grew throughout the festival and Daichi even thought they were going to kiss. It’s not like he worked up the courage to do it, he hadn’t even planned on making a move. His hormones just took over and it was an ‘in the moment’ type of situation. Unfortunately, his advance was interrupted by Oikawa. Which was especially irritating because Daichi was sure that, with the way Y/N was behaving, she would’ve returned the kiss. 

Suddenly, a conflicting thought entered Daichi’s mind.   
_Maybe I’m lucky that the kiss was interrupted. From what I know about Y/N and her past relationships, she didn’t have any closure before last night..._

Which is very true. Due to the lack of closure Y/N received in both the relationship with her ex-boyfriend and her ex-best friend, she wasn’t able to move on properly. Those relationships affected her way more than Daichi had previously known.

_I also learned more about Y/N’s parents. If she can’t say ‘I love you’ because of what happened, then maybe its best that I don’t push her. None of this is her fault and I just want to make it all better for her. She deserves the best. But maybe what she needs isn’t what I want to say. As much as I want to scoop her up in my arms and tell her how beautiful and perfect she is, even if she doesn’t believe it; and as much as I want to tell her I love her, it might make her feel guilty. Even if she does have feelings for me, telling her I love her will only put pressure on her to say it back and I don’t want to put her though that. And I don’t think I’d be able hold back from saying it if things were to progress any more than they did last night._

_Shit. What do I do?_

The solo and pensive run didn’t help Daichi make a decision about what to do at all. He’d have to beg Suga and Asahi for advice later, even though they said that they didn’t want to meddle anymore. 

When Daichi returned home from his run, he was surprised to see his mother standing in the kitchen chatting with Asahi and drinking coffee.

“Mum? What are you doing here?” Daichi made his way into the kitchen to greet his mother.

“Sweetheart! Welcome home! Sorry for the intrusion! I came to visit because I’m in town for a company team building thing. Isn’t that wonderful! They are paying for us all to say at a fancy inn with a beautiful bath house.”

“Wow. That’s pretty nice. So you don’t need a place to stay then? You’re always welcome here, you know that right?

“Oh, what did I do to deserve such a sweet and lovely boy!” Mrs Sawamura pulled Daichi in, ignoring his sweaty appearance, and embraced him with a kiss on his cheek. “Now go have a shower, we’re going out. But before you do, give your Bambi a call and ask her to come over.”

“She’s not _MY_ Bambi,” Daichi muttered in embarrassment as he headed to his bedroom. 

As Daichi went through his drawers to grab some clothes to take with him to the shower, a wild Suga appeared holding a coffee.

“Please tell me that you’re bringing me a coffee and aren’t just here to gloat that you got the last of it… or that Kiyoko stayed over last night.”

“Hey man, you’re the one who went out. It’s not my fault that you haven’t had coffee yet.” Suga entered further into the room to reluctantly hand over his mug for Daichi to take a swig. “Oi! Don’t drink all of it! I’ll put on some more coffee on to brew while you’re in the shower.”

“Sorry!” He hands the mug back. “But actually I do want to talk to you… about Bambi.”

“Okay, I didn’t invite your mum over and it was her idea to invite Bambi. She just wants to spend the day with all of us before she has to check in to her work thing.”

“No, No. It’s not about that.”

“Then what… Oh…” 

Daichi flashed Suga a face that said, ‘you know damn well what I’m talking about’. 

“Daichi. I really don’t want to get involved. What if I ruin everything? Hell, you saw what happened with Bokuto when I tried to set him up.”

“Okay yeah, that was bad, but he’s fine now. And he dodged a bullet there! That girl sounded awful. He’ll find someone in his own time and if he wants help, then he will ask for it. What I’m saying now is that I _NEED_ your help. I don’t know what to do!”

Daichi explained to Suga his dilemma and told him to think it over and help him figure out how to proceed.

“Okay, but only if you beg.”

In response to Suga’s teasing, Daichi pulled his best and scariest intimidation death-glare. A shadow fell over his face and his eyebrows furrowed menacingly.

“Oh please.” Suga scoffed. “That doesn’t work on me. I’m not your underclassman or Asahi…. but fine. I’ll try help you.”

Late-morning had arrived by the time Y/N arrived at Daichi’s apartment. She needed a good sleep in after the emotional rollercoaster she went through during the flower festival. It was a lot to process, but Y/N was sure that she was better for it. It occurred to her that she could get through anything when surrounded by her friends. And by Daichi. 

Daichi had become a huge part of Y/N’s life and she didn’t know what she would do if he wasn’t there to support her. She’d have to show her appreciation. Which she tried to, after Asahi had let her in the apartment. After greeting Asahi in the doorway, Y/N entered the apartment silently and crept up behind Daichi, who was talking to his mother. She wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her face against his back in a ‘surprise’ hug.

Daichi knew immediately that it was Y/N. In fact, he knew the moment she arrived, because his mother’s attention had left their conversation and her smiling eyes followed Y/N’s movements as she made her way over. So Daichi wasn’t surprised at all when Y/N suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist. He calmly placed his hands over Y/N’s, finished his sentence in conversation with his mother, and then turned around while still in Y/N’s embrace to hug her in return.

“You weren’t surprised? You knew it was me?” Y/N asked, tightening the hug and resting her head on Daichi’s chest.

Daichi laughed and breathed in the fruity scent that lingered from her shampoo. “Of I course I knew it was you. Why? Did you want me to judo flip you?” 

The group decided to spend their time together at a café nearby, before Mrs Sawamura was expected to check in with her work. Asahi, Suga, Kiyoko, Mrs Sawamura, Daichi and Y/N were given menus and directed to seats at a table near the air conditioning. The summer days had been growing increasingly warm and so most of the group decided to order iced teas and coffees. With this information, Y/N set off towards the counter to order for the group and secretly pay in advance; so as to avoid the awkwardness of ‘who’s going to pay’ or bill-splitting later on. 

The young woman taking Y/N’s order wore a trainee badge and was struggling to find the correct buttons to press in the till. That’s when a man, who appeared to be the barista, joined the lady and helped her out. He struck up an enthusiastic conversation with Y/N and was shamelessly forward with his flirting. 

It’s was always hard for Y/N to tell if someone was flirting with her when the other person worked in the service industry.   
The man asked her questions about her day and about the group she was with. The way he was pushing the conversation, she assumed he was either being friendly, or that he was interested in Kiyoko. 

The barista was pretty attractive, in a conventional and symmetrical, but boring kind of way. Not Y/N’s type, but that didn’t matter.  
 _I bet Kiyoko can deal with this guy if he has the guts to ask her out. I’d tell him that she’s in a relationship, but that’s really none of his business._  
So Y/N fake laughed at the barista’s jokes, as best she could so as to not hurt his feelings, and started to slowly back away. She didn’t want to be rude, so this was her way to try and prompt the end of the conversation so that she could to re-join her group.

Y/N returned to the table and sat down with a sigh of exhaustion. She really didn’t think it was necessary for people in the service industry to be so forceful with their chit-chat. It came across to her as invasive. She’d worked in hospitality throughout university, (her savings paired with inheritance, is how she is able to afford to focus solely on finishing the Police Academy), so she knows what it’s like to have to be over-the-top nice to customers. She has even experienced the kind of rudeness that some people feel they can get away with, when speaking to hospitality workers. It’s almost as if people think that the workers are their peasant servants and not worthy of manners. So given that, Y/N treated the pushy barista with as much respect as she could and just hoped to avoid further contact with him while she was in the cafe.

Y/N was seated next to Suga and directly opposite Daichi. Kiyoko chose the seat opposite Suga but next to Daichi, while Asahi and Mrs Sawamura sat at each head of the table.  
The conversation amongst the group had drifted over to the topic of Y/N and Daichi’s work experience, and how they felt they were doing. Apparently on Daichi’s next placement, this coming Wednesday, he is scheduled to ride along with one of the more experienced officers, to do speed checks on one of the main roads.  
“Nothing crazy. Just watching the guy give people tickets and stuff,” he continued to explain; until their table’s order arrived. 

The young female trainee brought over their drinks on a large tray and placed each drink in front of the corresponding customer. It wasn’t until after the waitress left that Y/N realised the napkin under her iced-coffee had a scribble on one side. 

It was a phone number.

Y/N tilted her head in confusion as she inspected the napkin, which caught Suga’s eye. 

“What you got there?” 

In response, Y/N flashed Suga the napkin with the same confused look on her face, before she turned around to look at the bar where the barista stood. He was standing there behind the counter, awaiting Y/N’s reaction. When he notices her gaze, he flashed her a big smile.

Sure of her conclusion, Y/N awkwardly passed the napkin diagonally across the table towards Kiyoko. 

“This is yours.”

Then Kiyoko was the one inspecting the napkin. Daichi leaned over to take a look as well, which immediately put a deep scowl on his face.

At this point, the man behind the counter noticed the confusion regarding who the napkin was intended for, and made his way from behind the counter and over to the table.

By the time the barista was in ear shot, Kiyoko tried to pass the napkin back to Y/N. “I don’t want this. It’s yours.”

Then, in the moment just before the man reached the table, Mrs Sawamura snatched up the napkin, excited to see what the fuss was about. “Oh my!”

Y/N turned her attention to Daichi, interested to see his reaction to the situation, but his attention was somewhere off to the side of her. Following the angle of Daichi’s scowl, Y/N followed to see that the pushy barista had approached the table and was standing at the corner of the table between her and Mrs Sawamura.

Before the nervous man could say anything, Mrs Sawamura chimed in. “Oh, I’m super flattered, but I think you’re too young for me. Thank you anyway,” and she puts the napkin in the hand of the now red-faced barista.

“Oh… Umm, no uhh…” he stuttered. He then took a deep breath in and turned to face Y/N directly. “Umm. Hello. My name is Shun and uhh... you seemed really cool when we were talking just before and umm, I was just wondering if we could maybe go out some time. This is my number.” He offered out the napkin to Y/N and she could hear Suga gasp from next to her.  
All the confidence the man seemed to have behind the counter, must have evaporated when he approached the table.

Not moving to take the number offered by the man, Y/N stared at it, surprised, wide eyed and mouth hanging slightly agape. She obviously misread the situation once again. 

A few seconds went by while the man continued to stand before her awkwardly. Then someone kicked Y/N’s foot from under the table; taking her out of her surprise. Y/N bit her lip and winced a little, desperately not wanting to be in this situation; especially in front of Daichi and his mother, who Y/N noticed were staring at her and awaiting a reaction.

“Umm, sorry but no thank you.” Y/N said in a volume just above a whisper.

“Oh.” The man withdrew the offered napkin and put it in his apron pocket. “I thought you said these guys were just your friends…” he trailed off looking around at the group of people and stopping when seeing Daichi’s livid expression.

“So? What has that got to do with it?” Y/N’s hand, that was resting atop the table, clenched into a fist.

The boys all knew that the moment the barista said that, that Y/N would be pissed. It’s the scenario all over again where a guy dismisses Y/N’s rejection and justifies it by assuming she has a boyfriend. They’d seen what happened last time someone treated Y/N like that, (beach douchebag) and it wasn’t pretty.

Y/N took a breath to calm her irritation into something manageable. “Look. I’m sorry. This is awkward. You seem nice,” she added that bit just to make him feel better. “But I just don’t want to date anyone right now, so…. Sorry.” 

Upon finishing her sentence, Y/N looked down at her hands and fiddled with her fingers sheepishly. Now was not the time or that place to tell this person why she actually wasn’t interested.

“I’m sorry.” The barista quickly bowed and went back to his job behind the counter, embarrassed by the outcome.

“Well he was forward little fellow, wasn’t he?” joked Mrs Sawamura to break the tension.

“Okaasan! I can’t believe you said that to the guy. That was hilarious,” cheered Suga.   
Recalling Mrs Sawamura’s joke about turning down the young man due to their age difference, had the whole table move past the awkwardness pretty quickly. Except Daichi.

Suga could tell from just looking at his solemn face, that Daichi had taken Y/N’s words to heart. So he kicked Daichi’s foot across the table to get him to snap out of it and be cool.

For the rest of the outing Daichi remained quiet, unless the conversation was directed at him. None of his smiles reached his eyes and he avoided eye-contact with Y/N. When they were finished, the group thanked Y/N for paying for their drinks and they made their way back to Daichi’s apartment.

Daichi, at the front of the pack when reaching his building, headed straight inside, holding his key at the ready. He didn’t notice that Y/N had stayed behind and gave a poor excuse to go home. He didn’t notice that the rest of them tried to convince her to stay, or that Suga waved everyone off to go inside while he offered to walk Y/N home. It wasn’t until the group was inside and the door was shut, that he noticed Suga and Y/N weren’t there.

“Suga, you didn’t have to walk me home. I’m fine really, I just have a lot of stuff to do.”

“I know, I know. I just wanted to talk to you. If you don’t mind, can we just talk inside for a bit?”

Very nervously, anxiety building in her chest at the mention of ‘talking’, Y/N opened her apartment door and let Suga inside. Someone wanting to _‘talk’,_ in Y/N’s experience, never meant anything good.

“Look, Bambi… This is a little awkward.” Suga has the same nervous tick as Daichi; He rubs the back of his neck and puts on a weak smile.

At this point Y/N could swear she felt her heart drop into her stomach, and then start to rise with her anxious nausea. 

“You’re not going to hurt Daichi are you?”

“What?!” Y/N’s breath was quickening in panic at such a heavy question. “I.. I would never…”

“Bambi. It’s okay. Breathe. I was just wondering.” Y/N clutched her chest and tried to control her breathing like Suga suggested. “He’s in love with you. You know that right?”

Now Y/N stopped breathing all together, fingers digging into the fabric of her shirt even further so that her knuckles turned white. Staring at the ground, wide eyed, she continued to listen to Suga. 

“I know you guys say that you’re just friends, but it’s obviously something more than that, and I just don’t want him to get hurt. Either of you actually. You’re both my friends and I would hate to see either of you upset.”

Unable to hold her breath anymore, she tried to start taking shallow and short breaths, while she adjusted her gaze to see if Suga’s expression communicated whether he was being serious or not.

“I know things haven’t been easy for you, and I know the stuff with your parents and Oikawa really affected you… but… is there a chance that you like Daichi too? Maybe even love him?... You don’t need to hide your feelings from him.”

Suga _was_ being serious. She could also tell from his expression that he was concerned. 

“Suga… I.. I don’t know what you mean...” she deflected. “But I would _NEVER_ hurt Daichi. And I really don’t think that what you’re saying about him is truly the case.” Y/N only sort-of meant that last statement. She didn’t think what Suga was saying was true, but at the same time she totally believed it. Daichi and Y/N were friends, but also more than that.   
She could speak to him about her nightmares and he never judged her or made her feel bad. He was always there, ready to help and make her feel better.

“He really cares about you. I think you should take a chance on him. I don’t know why you guys haven’t hooked up yet, aside from that kiss in front of Bitchimiya …”

“He told you about that?”

Suga couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you kidding? He wouldn’t shut up about it… though he was worried that you thought he only did that to make her jealous.”

Y/N smiled at her feet.

“Here. I want to show you something.” At this point, Suga pulled out his phone, the thing he wanted to show her open and at the ready. He handed it over to Y/N without any further explanation.

It was a photo collection.

Y/N took the time to swipe through each and every photo. It almost felt like she was traveling back in time as she started with the most recent photographs.

A photo of Y/N and Daichi from last night, with the fireworks as a back drop.

One of the moment at the festival where Y/N and Daichi almost kissed.

A photo of Y/N and Daichi laughing together in class. _Kuroo must have been in on this. How did they get this photo?_

A photo of Y/N resting her head on Daichi’s shoulder in-between classes. _Wait…Kuroo’s next to Daichi in this one… Okay so now ‘The Owl’ is in on it too!_

Photos of Y/N and Daichi laughing together and smiling at each other.   
If it weren’t for the time stamps that were visible when tapping the photos, then Y/N wouldn’t have known when they were taken. Y/N and Daichi laugh and smile at each other like that all the time.

Then came a group photo. She knew this one was taken by Kiyoko and it was of everyone at Suga’s birthday party in the karaoke bar. The taller boys were in the back waving their arms in the air. Noya was just as tall, because he was jumping while clinging on to Asahi’s shoulder. Suga was at the front of the picture next to Kenma, with a really unflattering look on his face. He was holding a suspicious looking cocktail.   
_The cocktail that Kuroo made Suga drink. Gross._   
And there was Y/N and Daichi, slightly to the left of their troublesome friends, with arms wrapped around each. Daichi giving Y/N a kiss on her flushed cheek.  
This photo in particular, made Y/N smile.

Next up was another photo of Daichi and Y/N hugging, taken on the same night.   
_So this is why Suga used that lame excuse ‘just trying to capture the magic of tonight.’ I should have known._

She continued to swipe though the photos on Suga’s phone in silence. Taking in and admiring each one.

It was a risky move that Suga pulled; basically admitting that he and his friends had pretty much been stalking Daichi and Y/N. Taking candid photos of them without their knowledge, then posting them to a group chat where they would discuss how to get them together. He watched her as she continued to swipe, a small smile present on her face.

Photos of them in Miyagi, then at the pub after exams. There’s a video of Daichi swinging Y/N around in his arms after winning a game of pool. 

One from the time they had a study group at Daichi’s apartment. In this one, Y/N was feeding Daichi a piece of broccoli.   
_If I recall correctly, Bokuto spilled a bunch of salt in Asahi’s cooking and we had to order noodles._

_Oh god! Here’s that photo of me looking like a slob standing next to Daichi who’s frikkin gorgeous. I hate this picture, but he looks so handsome._

Then, a photo of Y/N and Daichi asleep together on the couch, his head resting atop hers.  
 _This is the cutest picture I’ve ever seen. This must be from the time I fell asleep on their couch and slept in Daichi’s bed._

Then came the photos from the beach. Y/N getting an eyelash out of Daichi’s eye. The group photo.   
_Hey it’s the beach douchebag in the background._  
Another at the beach, where Y/N giggling while rubbing the sunscreen in on Daichi’s nose.

A photo from the apartment before the beach, that shows Daichi on the phone and holding Y/N’s hand.

A photo of the couple, shot from behind, where Daichi is staring at Y/N lovingly while her attention is directed at, if you zoom in, Asahi wearing that bird apron.   
_Oh the pep-talk for Asahi’s cooking test. That was the day I met Suga and Asahi._

And then…

“WAIT! How did you get this picture?!” Y/N yelled while holding the phone out and showing Suga the picture that Daichi promised he would delete. The original slob photo where Y/N is looking gross from sleeping in because her phone died. Hair all messy, pillow marks on the side of her face and her mouth hanging open. “This is the most unflattering picture I’ve ever seen in my life!”

That was _NOT_ what Suga was expecting to hear as her first response to the photo collection, so he doubled over in laugher. Y/N pulled the phone back to look at it once more as Suga tried to calm himself and explain.

“Daichi actually really liked that picture. He saved it in his favourites because he thinks you look cute. It was deleted on his phone when you asked him to, but I air-dropped it to myself before then when I had his phone and took that picture.” Suga moved to stand by Y/N’s side and scrolled over to the picture just before. The one from the day she met Suga.

Y/N looked down at the phone silently and swiped to the last picture. The picture of Y/N holding up the puppy on the day she first met Daichi.  
She paused on that one and smiled, remembering the best day of her life. 

They day she met Daichi.

The memories made her heart swell.

“I found that one in his favourites too. I think he still uses it as your caller ID.”

Now realising that she was staring at the phone silently and smiling like a goof, she cleared her throat and asked, “Hey.. um… can you send these to me please?”

Suga, pleased and flashing his blindingly bright grin, took back his phone and tapped on it few times. **PING!**. “There you go.”

Y/N pulled out her phone from her back pocket and noticed that she was added to a group chat. A chat called _‘Thighchi and Bambi (eggplant emoji, deer emoji)’_

“Really?” Y/N deadpanned at Suga.

“What?”

“The name of the group chat?”

“Oh no! That wasn’t me! That was Kuroo. The name changed around a bunch. The last one I named it was, _‘We Ship Them’._ Well, because we all ship you guys.”

“That’s a really lame name, Suga… Wait.. even Bokuto? His name is on here.”

“Yeah, Bambi. Even Bokuto.”

“Oh.” Y/N went silent once more, swiping through the photos again. Her mind racing with thoughts and feelings about Daichi. Each photo she scrolled though was a moment that Daichi and Y/N had shared together. Personal moments that illustrated the fondness in both their eyes, and the pure happiness in their smiles.

“You okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah… just thinking.” Y/N responded looking up briefly to see Suga’s slightly worried face and then back to the photos. “Does Daichi know about this?”

“No, but he is stressed about what to do… But don’t let that influence you or put pressure on you at all okay!” Suga added that last part in a hurry when seeing Y/N bite her lip nervously.

“Umm, Suga? Can you just give me some time to sort things out? Don’t tell Daichi okay?”

“Sure, Bambi. I’ll leave you to it. I’ll see you later okay. Let me know if you need to talk. I’m your friend too and I want to make sure that you’re okay, whatever happens. Oh and one more thing. There’s something Daichi always use to say to us back in high school. _‘You can’t win unless you try’._ Granted he was talking about volleyball, but I think it applies here.”

Y/N nodded her head in silent understanding.

“Okay. Bye.” Suga gave her a quick hug goodbye and then left to go back to his place. He’d need to think of something to tell the others about what they talked about.

Once Suga left, Y/N rested on the couch to look though all the photos and comments in the chat. She thought about all the fun and drama that had happened over the last five months; all of it centred around Daichi. Y/N’s life felt empty before she met him, but now she has friends and people who care about her. She thought about how Daichi was always there for her when she needed him, and that she never had to ask because somehow he could always tell. They were always on the same wavelength, except when it came to each other’s romantic feelings. 

Looking at the photos, she studied Daichi’s face and his smile. His lovely chocolate eyes and perfect nose. She then recognised the look in her own eyes when directed at Daichi. The look that somehow expressed everything she was feeling, without putting it into words. Words that were hard for her to say.

**PING!**

A new message to the group chat snapped Y/N out of her thoughts. She shook her head and focused on the incoming messages.

Kuroo: OHHHH SHEEET! (☉∀☉)  
Kuroo: BAMBI IS IN THE CHAT!  
Kuroo: SUGA DID IT!   
Kuroo: LOOK OUT WORLD! PHASE TWO BEGINS! v(￣∇￣)

Sugawara: SHHHH. Daichi isn’t to know. Calm your fucking farm and be cool man.

Bokuto: HEY HEY HEY! ABOUT TIME!   
Bokuto: d(>_・ )

Smiling at the wildness of her cherished friends, Y/N decided to not reply. She cleaned her apartment to work though her feelings instead.   
_What should I do?_

That night, many thoughts ran though her head and she struggled to get to sleep. She received a message from Daichi shortly after Suga left, asking if she was okay because she left without saying goodbye; to which she gave a generic response, not wanting to give away her feelings just yet.

Y/N thought about all the times that she considered confessing to Daichi but chickened out. She remembered all the times he got a bit too close and affectionate. Which was, in hindsight, a sign that he is as in to her as much as she is in to him. 

There are over 20 photos and one video of Y/N and Daichi.  
 _All these pictures could almost be considered proof that he has feelings for me that are more than friendship. I need to figure out what to tell him if I can’t say what I want to say. How do I tell someone I love them without saying ‘I love you.’_

Next Chapter: The Hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHH is all i have to say. Even i'm excited about this chapter. AHHHHHHHH


	24. The Hospital

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Hospital

Y/N had a way with disqualifying the positive when it came to Daichi. Every bit of romantic progress that they made in their relationship, that seemed obvious to others, was discounted.  
She would make excuses for his sweet behaviour and think things like; _he just sees me as a friend, he’s just an affectionate person,_ or _it doesn’t mean anything._  
This was especially the case when Daichi kissed her in front of the ramen shop a while back. _He just kissed me to make Bitchimiya jealous._

She brushed it all off and archived the memories away in her filing cabinet mind under ‘friendship’, which is located right next to ‘unrequited feelings’.

However, in reality, every time Daichi brought her a coffee, every time he kissed her on the top of her head, every time he hugged her and held her hand longer than necessary, was his way of expressing his love and adoration for Y/N.

Roughly twenty pictures and a video later, she could see that now. 

It was like she could see in colour for the first time, but was still learning the names of the rainbow. She viewed her relationship with Daichi in a whole new light, which wasn’t as one sided as she originally thought.

She internally scolded herself for dismissing all the affection that Daichi clearly displayed, and she cursed her insecurities for making her unprepared to react to this huge revelation. 

In hindsight, she had been a bit ‘hot and cold’ with Daichi, when it came to her own displays of affection. She clearly had feelings for the man, but when her insecurities became too much for her to handle, she would pull away. It scared her to think about the extent of her feelings, for fear of them being rejected. Though, as it turns out, Mrs Sawamura was right. Y/N was attempting to protect herself from the wrong person.

A lot of things had happened in Y/N’s past that affected her emotions and therefore her actions; and they were valid to an extent. But there was no real need for Y/N to protect herself from Daichi, because he was already protecting her. Not in a literal sense, because Y/N was capable of protecting herself physically. However, Daichi had slowly worked his way into her cracked and chipped heart, and pieced bits of it back together. Bits that may not have healed if left alone. He was trying to protect her from herself and in turn, from her past. Most of the time he did it without knowing he was. He just had a way of making Y/N feel special and important; but most of all, supported.

By the time Daichi arrived at her door on Monday morning, Y/N had long since been ready. She had woken up fairly early as she wracked her brain for ideas on what to do and what to say. She couldn’t believe that someone as wonderful and handsome, and completely perfect, as Daichi could be in love with her. She was never _that_ lucky. And yet, there were the photos to prove it. It’s pretty hard to dismiss their love for each other when its right there in every photo and every memory. 

All of these thoughts, and she _STILL_ doesn’t know what to do about confessing her feelings to Daichi. There was a lingering feeling in her mind that she couldn’t shake. A feeling that her inability to display affection (such as saying ‘I love you’), to her significant other, would cause the destruction of their relationship. As much as she believed that Daichi would understand, she also believed that it would eventually take its toll. That it would pick away at him slowly, until he resented her for never verbally reciprocating those three words.

_It’s just three little words._

_Am I going to let three little words direct the course of my life._

The answer didn’t come to her right away. 

Daichi had gotten over his mood from the day before, once he realised that his attitude was likely the reason for Y/N to go home so abruptly without saying goodbye. He’d mentally kicked himself many times before his friends were able to console him. Suga had assured him that Y/N probably said the she didn’t want to date anyone as a way to get rid of the pushy barista, without causing a scene like with the beach-douchebag.

So, as usual, Daichi brought Y/N her beginning of week saviour; a coffee, just the way she liked it. However, this time, she noticed that there was something scribbled on the side of the cup. 

‘Bambi <3 Happy Monday!’

_Cute. Wait… was there always something written on the side of my cup. Is this a one-time thing or is this just the first time I’m noticing?_

“I didn’t want to mix up the coffees on my way here, so I borrow their marker to write on the side. They never seem to mind when I ask.” Daichi paid attention to Y/N’s focus on his handwriting. He also noticed that Y/N had detected his note for the very first time. Which wasn’t surprising to him that she took so long, given that she’s always half asleep for most of Monday morning.

“Wait. You mean you’ve written me notes on my cup before?”

“Yeah,” he laughed bashfully, and rubbed the back of his neck. Daichi had reacted like that many times before, but this time, the implications of his shyness affected the tightness Y/N felt in her chest. “Well, except on the days when I remember to bring the reusable cups. I can’t write on those. Actually I think they are still here from when you got us coffees on Friday.” He then looked towards the kitchen to see that the cups in question were placed on the drying rack.

Y/N ran her finger over the rushed lettering as her lips upturned into a soft smile. _His writing is usually neater, but he probably wrote this in a rush because he was borrowing their pen and didn’t want to inconvenience them. He’s so considerate._  
“What else have you written on the cups?”

“I knew you didn’t notice. Classic Bambi. You can be kind of oblivious at times you know.”

“No I’m not!” She said out loud, contradicting her thoughts. _Damn it. I AM oblivious. It took a collection of photo for me to realise._

“Mhmm.” Daichi laughed at her defensiveness, knowing that it’s in her nature to make herself appear more independent and put together than she actually is. “Well I can’t remember what I wrote exactly, but it’s usually something like, ‘let’s have a good day’ or something lame like that. It’s hard to think of something clever this early in the morning.”

_You’re too precious for this world and I love…_

“Ready to go?” Daichi interrupted her internal monologue, amused at her reaction.

“Yeah, let’s go. Oh and Daichi. Thank you… I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”

All day Y/N had her attention on Daichi. She barely noticed a single thing in her classes, and her note taking was on par with Bokuto’s; messy and unclear. It took all she had just to pry her eyes away from Daichi’s handsome face, the nose she loved and the crinkle in his eyes that showed when he laughed with (but mostly at) his friends. She noticed every little smile he made in her direction, and the warmth from every touch they shared, whether it accidental or on purpose. She reflected on how kind he was. Even when he lost his temper, it was all because his friends were causing trouble for someone else. 

_He’s a good guy.  
The best guy. _

“You okay, Bambi? You’re a bit out of it today?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I think I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“I wonder why,” Kuroo butted in and teased, with an all knowing smirk on his face.

Y/N stared at the tall rooster-haired man with wide eyes. Silently begging him to shut up and be cool. She conjured the best pleading look that she could, without saying it out loud. _Don’t you dare mention the group chat._

“Am I missing something?” Daichi asked, as observant as always. 

Kuroo, who is not actually as mean as he looks, thought up something to throw Daichi off. _Guess I’m a wingman for Bambi now too._  
“Oh, nah. I just got _your_ Bambi hooked on a new show and I think she probably stayed up late watching it. That sound about right?”

How does one hide a blush without making it look like you’re trying to hide a blush; because Y/N would sure like to know. Being referred to as ‘Daichi’s Bambi’ caught her off guard and she choked on her own saliva. “…Yep. That’s what happened. It’s a good show so I couldn’t help it.”

“I know it is. That’s why we shared it with you.” Kuroo nudged her in ribs lightly, emphasizing the double meaning in his statement.

In retaliation to Kuroo’s nudge, she clapped him on the back pretty hard and gave a sarcastic ‘thanks’. Truthfully, Y/N was very thankful that the guys had taken the photos and shared them with her, even thought they could easily be interpreted as a little stalkerish. She was also thankful that they guys hadn’t mentioned anything to Daichi yet, and were letting Y/N deal with things in her own time. What troublesome but wonderful friends that Daichi introduced her to.

Daichi consumed Y/N’s thoughts for the whole day, and the next. It wasn’t until Wednesday afternoon that she had decided ‘enough is enough’. She didn’t know what to say, but she’d just have to sit him down and tell it to him straight. 

Y/N was on her way to her assigned police station for her work place experience when she sent him a text. 

To Daichi: _Hey! Have dinner with me tonight? Just the two of us if that’s okay. My place after you’re done at the station? xo_

She’d pondered over the use of a heart emoji vs the ‘xo’ for a good five minutes before she finally sent the message. It made the message seem less serious.  
She decided not to use the words ‘we need to talk’, because she knew full well how much that could make someone panic. She also decided that she needed to send him a message to confirm a time, otherwise she’d probably back out and never tell him what she was feeling.

The time spent at Y/N’s work placement went by very smoothly. She’d got to help out her superiors and make their days a little easier. She hadn’t received a reply from Daichi, but her anxiety about his lack of reply was pushed aside from knowing beforehand that he would be busy. He was scheduled for a ride along with an experienced officer to give out speeding tickets. She thought that he was likely taking notes for the reports they would have to submit for credit.

It wasn’t until Y/N got home that she started to second guess her previous assumption. So, she texted him once more to let him know that she was home and that they could reschedule if he was too busy.

Two seconds after sending the message, her phone started to ring. 

It was Suga.

“Hey Suga. I know I haven’t said anything yet but I was planning to…”

“Y/N” It was the way he said her name that made her stop mid-sentence.

“Everything okay, Suga?” He didn’t sound okay and he used her real name. She gulped away her worry during the short silence on the other end of the line.

“Y/N” That serious tone again. “Before I say, just know that Daichi is okay and he will be perfectly fine.”

Now she was in full panic mode, thinking the absolute worst. She recognised the way someone said her name like that, as if to prepare her for bad news. “Oh my god Suga. What happened? Tell me!”

“We’re at the hospital, but he’s okay. He got into a bit of an accident and he’s awake now. He just has a tiny concussion and a bruise on his face from the airbag.”

“Airbag?” She gasped for breath as her chest tightened. Gripping the phone harder, she recalled the moment from her teens where the ones she loved had been taken from her.

“Yes. Daichi was in a car accident a little while ago. But you have to listen to me. You don’t need to worry. He’s fine!” Suga started talking slow and clear, to make sure Y/N was understanding everything he was saying. 

She sounded on her verge of hyperventilating.

“Y/N?” He called out but didn’t receive a reply. “Y/N, are you still there? Tell me you’re okay.”

_Oh god no, please. Not again. Another car accident. Why did this happen. Please not Daichi. I can’t lose him too._

“Y/N!” Practically shouting into the phone now, Suga tried to get her attention.

“Yes. I’m here,” she finally replied as she tried to steady her breathing. Now wasn’t the time to freak out. She needed to get to the hospital to see Daichi.

Almost as if he read her mind, Suga said, “The doctors say that it’s okay for you to come and see him now. Do you want me to pick you up?”

“No, you should stay with him so he’s not alone,” she said, confident in her reasoning. She tried to keep her head clear enough to think logically about what to do in this situation. “I’ll ask Kuroo to take me. He should be home by now.” 

She pulled the phone away from her ear, put Suga on speaker and then quickly typed out a message to Kuroo. “Suga?”

“Yes, Bambi?”

“He is going to be okay, right? Concussions can be serious…”

“I promise. They already did a scan. They were worried he was going to sue someone, so he’s getting pretty good treatment. He will just have a headache for a while and needs to rest, but no permanent damage. He can go home later tonight.”

Those words seemed to calm Y/N down just enough for her to start breathing normally again. She didn’t dare ask how it happened yet, for fear of working herself into a frenzy before she got to see him. “Okay. Thank you Suga… Oh, I just heard back from Kuroo. I’ll see you really soon.”

“See you soon, Bambi.” 

In the hospital, Suga finished the call and looked over to Daichi, who had been resting in the bed with his eyes closed and an icepack on his face. “Y/N is on her way. I think you gave her a panic attack, Daichi.”

“Damn it!” Daichi opened his eyes and pulled the icepack off his swollen left cheek, revealing the painful-looking bruise underneath. Daichi seemed almost as panicked as Y/N was on the phone. “Suga. Her parents died in a car accident. She’s probably freaking out! Did she sound okay? Was she alright?”

“Geez Daichi. Calm down. You’re making it sound like she was the one in the accident. Try to stay positive,” Suga responded, as he moved to return the icepack to Daichi’s cheek. Then, with a sombre look on his face, he added, “thought that does explain her reaction. I forgot about her parents for a moment.”

Racing through the carpark of the hospital, Y/N clutched onto Kuroo’s arm tightly. He was concerned for his friends wellbeing too, but he knew he needed to ground Y/N’s panic before she exploded. He only spoke softly to her and tried to keep things positive without dismissing her feelings or patronising her. It was a fine line to walk, but Kuroo was well equipped to handle anxiety, as he does so with his boyfriend almost every day. So he had a good grasp on what he needed to do to help Y/N get to the hospital without breaking down completely. She could break down after seeing Daichi if she needs to, but for now, they just had to get there. 

Entering the hospital, Y/N basically dragged Kuroo along to the emergency department.

“Slow down, Bambi. This is a hospital. You can’t run around here,” he advised but tried not to scold.

Responding to her friend’s concern, she slowed down to a speed-walking pace as she approached the administration desk.  
“Hello. I’m here to see Daichi Sawamura. Whereishe? Howishedoing? Ishegoingtobeokay?” 

Suga could hear Y/N’s rapid-fire questions coming from down the hallway. So he peeked out from behind the curtain dividing Daichi’s bay from the rest of the ED and called out to Y/N, waving her over.

Y/N quickly bowed to the nurse, who was in the middle of looking up where Daichi was located, and then jogged over to Suga; leaving Kuroo to join at his own pace. She stopped beside Suga in front of the curtain and took a deep breath in preparation.  
As she was about to move forward to enter, she did a double take. _Is Suga wearing a shirt that says ‘Potato’? Wait, now’s not the time to be concerned with things like that._

She pulled back the curtain and entered the space to see Daichi lying in bed asleep, with a small bandage over the bridge of the nose she adored, and a large bruise on his left cheek. He was lucky his nose wasn’t broken from the impact of the airbag, as most of the force hit his cheek. In fact, he was lucky nothing was broken from the crash all together.

Breathing out slowly, she couldn’t help the welling of tears in her eyes as she approached the left side of his bed. Stopping by Daichi’s side she turned to look back over at Suga with an expression of sadness that could break hearts.

“I’ll give you guys some time alone. I’ll just be over at the vending machines with Kuroo if you need us. And there’s a button by his bed to call the nurse.” Y/N nodded in understanding, spared one more glace at Suga’s ‘potato’ shirt, and returned her attention to Daichi.

There he was, the man she adored, lying in a hospital bed. Her eyes traced and studied his features under the dimmed lights in his hospital bay. _They must have dimmed the lights because of his concussion._  
He rested under some blankets that rose to mid chest, a generic hospital gown peeking out from the covers. When she looked to the side, she could see a blue plastic bag that appeared to be filled with his belongings. 

Y/N carefully picked up the hand closest to her, his right one, and gave it a gentle kiss before she clasped it in both hands and held it over her heart. This action woke Daichi and his eyes fluttered open. He turned his head a little to look over at his new visitor before smiling in recognition. He groaned a little from the pain in his ribs as he moved to sit up straight, using his free hand as leverage.

“Hey. It’s my Bambi,” he spoke slowly, shaking off the cobwebs in his brain. 

Tears began to free fall down Y/N’s face as she sobbed, triggered by his choice of words.

“Daichi…” she sniffed, the hand she held against her chest resonated with the sound of her sobs.

“Hey, Bambi. It’s okay,” he cooed. “There’s no need to cry. I’m perfectly fine. See!” He then flashed her an even bigger smile before pulling one of her hands in for a quick kiss. As if he was proving his good condition by showing his normal affection.

“Your face, Daichi,” she pointed out, lips quivering.

“What? Am I not handsome anymore?” 

His light-hearted joke made her laugh and the crinkles at the corner of her eyes provoked more tears to fall. “You’ll always be handsome to me.” She didn’t understand how he was still so cheerful. He was just in a car accident, and yet here he was, smiling at her.

He beamed back up at her, squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes lovingly. “I promise. I’m okay. It’s just a bruise and a bump on the head. And my ribs are a little sore from the seatbelt, but I’m okay.”

She let out another sob, louder this time, unable to hold back her emotions. She was grateful that he was alive, but heartbroken to see him injured. The mix of emotions too much for her to handle when looking at the man she cares about the most.

He pulled his hand out of her grasp, only to pull her in closer by her the cheek and then shower her face with kisses. He couldn’t stand to see her upset, just as much as she couldn’t stand to see him hurt.  
He tried to kiss away all her tears while she let out a breathy laugh from the tickling feeling. She then called out his name to gain his attention. She had something important to say and she couldn’t wait any longer.

He hummed in acknowledgement, but didn’t stop his little pecks and kisses on her cheeks. A few more to her nose and a few just to the side of her lips. 

Y/N brushed her hand through his short brown hair and guided him towards her lips for a slow and gentle kiss. She was careful to not use too much force, for his injury’s sake, and she tried her best to communicate all the love and tenderness she felt for him into that tender kiss. His lips were chapped but soft and they moved slightly against her own.

When she pulled back to gauge his reaction, Daichi stared at her lips though half lidded and unfocused eyes. Pink dusting across his cheeks and blending into the purple bruise on his left cheek.

“Daichi, I wanted to tell you... I should have before. I don’t know why it took me so long, but I need to tell you now… I love you… and not just as a friend... or as a best friend. I’m _in love_ with you.” 

She whispered it close enough to hear, but not loud enough for Daichi to feel confident that he heard her correctly.  
“Ww..what? Did you just tell me.. that you love me?” He asked in disbelief, hands still on her cheeks from the kiss. “This isn’t the concussion? You actually said _‘I love you’…_ for real?”

She moved her hands from his hair to cover his hands that remained on her cheeks, and nodded.

Daichi let out a breath of relief. “Bambi, I love you too.”  
He pulled her in for another soft kiss. He then pulled back just enough to add, “so much,” while still grazing his lips against hers as he spoke, before he went back for another. The kisses tasted like salty tears but neither of them cared because this moment was perfect. This moment was right. A moment just for them.

What a rollercoaster. She’d be happy to never go on a rollercoaster again, for as long as she lived; real or otherwise. The adrenaline from fear of losing Daichi was still pumping, while at the same time she felt giddy from his kisses and declaration of love. She couldn’t stop the giggle that she let slip into the kiss.

He pulled back to see her laugh and pressed his forehead against hers, smiling brightly like a Cheshire cat. “I’m so proud of you.” He had to acknowledge that she said it. It was a big deal for her and he knew it must have been difficult. He couldn’t believe that he was lucky enough to hear her say those words, and to him no less. She seemed more relieved than troubled after saying the words that used to cause her great pain.

So he pulled her close, for a hug this time. Then he kissed her ear before he repeated once more, “I love you so much, Bambi.”

That’s when Y/N started crying again. She sobbed into the crook of his neck, dampening his skin and the neckline of his hospital gown. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it before.”

He withdrew from the hug to look into her eyes. “Hey. There’s no need to be sorry. I get it. It’s difficult.” He wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “But I’m SO glad you said it anyway.”

They kissed again, completely addicted to one another.

**CLICK!**

Unlike at the festival, the couple noticed the shudder-sound and flash from Suga’s phone. They turned to see their friends grinning and applauding them.

“Finally!” Kuroo cheered. His arms folded and a proud grin on his face as he stood next to his, just as proud, silver-haired amateur photographer friend. 

“Finally,” Daichi repeated, looking back at Y/N and into her smiling eyes.

Group chat: ‘Thighchi and Bambi (eggplant emoji, deer emoji)’

Sugawara attached 1 image.  
Sugawara: Someone call Okaasan!

Next Chapter: The Recovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow!! This is basically the end of the story! The next chapter doesn't hold very much plot. Maybe a little bit of explanation about Daichi's recovery and what happened in the accident, but its mostly sin.  
> Not even sorry. Gotta practice writing all types.  
> (・ωｰ)～☆
> 
> Thank you SOOOO much to everyone who read my story!  
> Feel free to go back and read it again. I'd love to hear what your favourite part about the fic was. Or maybe even your favourite lines. 
> 
> I'll be starting my new Oikawa fic as soon as I post the last chapter and I've planned it out just like this one. So chapters should be rapid fire, but hopefully with more skill.
> 
> Thanks again!  
> I appreciate you all taking the time to read my garbage. It's trash but call me a racoon. I love it! (Which is why I wrote it in the first place.)  
> (´ε｀ )♡


	25. The Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter!  
> Smut plus a cute ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warning*(Smut about half way through)

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Recovery 

Someone (definitely Suga), called Mrs Sawamura about the accident, and purposely let slip that Y/N and Daichi had finally got together. The silver-haired man in the ‘potato’ shirt, explained to his friends that he ‘had to’ tell her, because she was so upset about the accident. 

“Plus, if she found out that we all knew and didn’t tell her right away, then Okaasan would drive up here and kill us all. Or even worse… she would be _disappointed_ in us.” 

Agreeing that there was _nothing_ worse than Mrs Sawamura being disappointed in them, when she called Daichi’s phone shortly after speaking to Suga, he answered immediately and put her on speaker.

With Daichi’s light concussion, came some migraine symptoms. So he needed to spend some time in dark room away from bright lights and loud noises. Noises that included the excitable screams of his mother, who he had to remind a few times to keep her loudness to a minimum. So he lowered the volume on his phone and kept it far enough from his ear so that the noise didn’t aggravate his brain. 

Y/N rested her head on Daichi’s shoulder and ran imaginary patters over his chest, as he explained the accident to Mrs Sawamura, pausing every so often to give his new girlfriend a kiss on her brow.

“Well, I don’t know _exactly_ what happened, but I was in the passenger seat at the time. We were on our way to a new location for speed checks. The officer I was with said that someone was changing lanes and they didn’t check their blind spot. So, they hit into us on his side of the car. He ended up okay, though he got hit with the airbag too. Man, those things are pretty powerful. My face was turned a bit to the side, which is why the airbag hit me mostly on the cheek. At least it didn’t break my nose.”   
He then turned his attention to Y/N to add a little anecdote. “It’s funny, I had a similar bruise in my senior year of high school. I collided with Tanka in a volleyball game...” 

In that moment, Mrs Sawamura called though the speaker, “I remember that! You should ask Bambi to pick you up some of that bruise cream. Actually, I think I still have some here. Maybe I should drive over...”

“Yeah, No. Mum that stuff its probably _VERY_ expired. You should throw it out. Plus, there’s no need to visit. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry and travel all that way. And Bambi is here to look after me if I need anything.” Daichi tried to convince his mother. Suga and Kuroo sniggering in the background at the exchange, as they sipped on their drinks from the vending machines.

Later that night when things had settled down, the doctor signed Daichi’s discharge papers and gave him the details of someone that he could follow up with if he had any problems. They suggested he take a few days off to rest, and prescribed some light pain medication for his headache and sore ribs. 

So, after Daichi got dressed, they left for home. They all took Suga’s car back to the guy’s apartment, except for Kuroo who had left separately and returned to his own home. But before they parted ways, Kuroo suggested that Y/N also take a couple of days off so she could look after Daichi. His intentions were more about pushing the couple together (wingman style), than it was about his concern for Daichi’s ability to care for himself. It wasn’t exactly necessary for Daichi to have a baby sitter, but no one was going to point that out. In fact, Daichi and Y/N agreed with the suggestion right away and asked their bed-headed friend to take notes for the both of them in class.

Daichi loved that Y/N stayed by his side and looked after him, and he made it known by asking Y/N to stay the night; which she was more than happy to do. She borrowed one of his shirts and a pair of boxers, pleased that they took on his cinnamon scent, and joined him for sleep, comfortable in his arms. Though the summer temperature made his bedroom warm, neither of them dared move out of each other’s tender embrace.

They’d been through so much together and not all of it was good. Although they had taken the long way around, their relationship was stronger for it. More established and secure than it may have been if Daichi had not chickened out and asked for her number on the day they met.

As Kuroo had suggested, Y/N joined Daichi in taking the rest of the week off classes. Two days wasn’t a big concern to her, considering that she is the brainiest of the bunch. Bokuto and Kuroo had stopped by on Friday night, to give the couple copies of their notes and to check on their recovering friend. Y/N made a mental note to re-write anything by Bokuto, so that Daichi could catch up easier when he felt better. Kuroo’s notes were clear and detailed, but Bokuto’s were something else entirely (in a bad way).

For the nights of recovery after the accident, Daichi insisted Y/N stay with him in his bed because he would “heal a lot faster with good company.” 

“How can I say no to that?” She laughed.

So, Y/N continued to care for her boyfriend, bringing him food and giving him soft kisses till his headache was all gone. The bruise on his cheek and nose had stared to fade by the weekend, thanks to the bruise cream that she found in their local pharmacy. Y/N joked that she was paying him back from the time he patched up her elbow on the day they met.

The weekend arrived and Y/N went out briefly to grab a change of clothes from home, and to pick up some groceries for the boys. It was easier for Daichi to be in his own bed during his recovery, though she felt bad for hanging around the guy’s place a lot. So, she offered to make them dinner; hence the groceries. Though, she did warn them beforehand that her cooking would be nowhere near as good as Asahi’s. Sora had been kind enough to send Y/N a very detailed recipe, so that she could at least _try_ and impress her friends. 

Asahi and Suga were out enjoying the weekend and said they would be back for dinner. So, upon returning to their apartment, Y/N let herself in with Daichi’s key. She could hear the shower running as she put the groceries away in the fridge.

“Daichi?” she walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. “Is that you in there? You doin okay, honey?”

The water turned off and soon after, the door flew open. 

The moment Daichi heard Y/N calling though the door, he abandoned the notion of putting on the clothes that he brought with him and opted to greet her in a ‘less than modest’ way.

So, there was Daichi, looking like a fucking _snack._   
He had a towel wrapped low on his waist and Y/N couldn’t stop her eyes from roaming over his broad exposed chest and down the lines of his abdominal muscles. The water dripped enticingly down his tan skin because he didn’t take the time to dry off properly. Y/N sucked her lip in-between her teeth from a mix of concentration and restraint, and continued to stare at his musculature with blown-out pupils.

“My eyes are up here, Bambi,” he said with a smirk, jolting Y/N out of her trance.

“Ahhh I’m s-sorry,” Having been caught perving on her very gorgeous and chiselled boyfriend, she covered her face in embarrassment.

Daichi grasped the hands in front of her face and pulled them away so he could see her blush. “I was just kidding. You can look all you want.” He pulled her in for a hug and ducked his head down to give her a peck on the cheek.

“Daichi! You’re getting me all wet,” she whined, feeling the water from Daichi’s skin soaking into the clothes that she had recently changed into.

“Are you now?” He whispered close to her ear in a deep sultry tone that twisted the meaning of her innocent words.

“Ahh Daichi! That’s not what I meant.” He loved it when Y/N got embarrassed like that and it was just too easy to tease her that he couldn’t help himself.

He then faked a pout. “Here I thought you were looking at me like that because you thought I was sexy.”

Giving in to his teasing, Y/N smirked, popped onto her tippy toes and threw her arms around the taller man’s neck, before swiftly kissing him on his lips. “Of course you are.”   
She kisses him again. “You’re the most handsome, sexy and wonderful man that I’ve ever met.” Another kiss to his lips. “And I am absolutely and completely in love with you.” She finished her flattery with one last chaste kiss.

Lust started to cloud Daichi’s mind and his voice came out with a guttural quality, coming from deep in the back of his throat. “As I recall, I think you mentioned something about me having a sexy voice too.” 

“Gah, you remember that? How do you always manage to embarrass me with my own words?”

“Just one of my many talents,” he teased. Pleased with her bashful reaction, Daichi flashed a smug smile and then scooped Y/N up in his arms and carried her over to his bedroom. 

She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist and cried out, “Ahhh! Daichi, what are you doing! Put me down.”

“No way, Bambi. You’re mine,” he declared in a cheeky but gruff tone with desire in his eyes. He carried her the whole way to his bedroom and then flopped his giggling girlfriend onto the bed. He took his stance between her legs, bent forward and kissed her forehead softly, and then her lips. The gentleness of his kisses contrasting the rough way her threw her onto the mattress.

As he pulled away, she sat up smiling and ran her hands up and down his sides, feeling the muscles moving beneath his warm, tanned skin. He had said previously that his ribs didn’t hurt anymore, but he still had a couple of bruises that the seatbelt left behind. So, she leaned in and kissed each one for good measure. As she continued to litter kisses across Daichi’s abdomen, her hands glided down to caress the skin of his legs that showed just below the end of his towel. He ran his hands through her hair as she fondled the thighs that she had worshiped for so long. 

“Thighchi,” she called for his attention flirtatiously and glanced up to see his Adam’s apple bob deeply. “Have I ever told you have much I love your thighs?” She ran her hands up the back of his legs, peeking her fingers under his towel.

Y/N then giggled at his flushed complexion and pulled him in closer, offsetting his balance so he had to kneel forward onto the mattress. He gently pushed her back onto the bed and hovered over her, his knees positioned between her legs. She admired the flex of his arms as he steadied his weight on either side of her head, before he swooped down and kissed her with increasing passion. Each nerve in Y/N’s body lit with desire as he licked at her lips, opening them with his tongue so that he could explore her. Daichi tasted wonderful and she followed her impulse to suck on the tongue that was massaging her mouth.

He muffled a moan into her lips and she pulled his body in closer again. Chests flush against each other, as she slowly wrapped her legs around Daichi’s waist. She could feel the beginnings of his hardness beneath his towel, which sent her levels of arousal skyrocketing. Hormones racing and blood pumping faster though her veins.

Teeth pressed in to her lower lip as Daichi pulled at it, letting it snap back when he let go; giving Y/N a taste of the painful but pleasurable side of him. Daichi moved his wet kisses down her jaw and to her neck. Her breathing increased into a pant at the sensual feeling of his dips dragging down towards her collarbone. He mimicked her motions from earlier as he ran a hand down her side towards her leg, and then ducked his hand underneath the fabric of her shorts to palm at her ass, which generated a whimper of appreciation from the woman, in return. 

Pleased with her reaction, Daichi readjusted them both on the bed so that his legs weren’t hanging over the side anymore. He then reassumed the position between her legs, which she then wrapped around his waist as he pressed his towelled section against her warmth. The passion was fuelling their fire as he kissed her again, charging the unresolved sexual tension that had been building for far too long. 

Y/N’s hips jerked up into Daichi, in protest from being ignored. The air heavy around them as she brushed her fingers up and down Daichi’s bare muscular back and into his damp hair, deepening the kiss. Her tongue didn’t hesitate to claim his mouth as payment for his continued grinding. The water droplets that had sprinkled his skin from his shower, seemed to have partially evaporated with the growing heat in the bedroom. With how hot and heavy things were getting, it wouldn’t be long before the droplets turned into sweat.

Daichi guided a hand beneath Y/N’s shirt and reached up to toy with her right breast. When he squeezed the lace covered nipple, Y/N let out a moan and another involuntary thrust of her hips. The friction earned a hum of approval from Daichi, and the hot breath fanning against his ear stirred his arousal further.

He withdrew from his fondling and pulled Y/N’s torso forward so that he could remove her shirt. He then kissed down her neck and to her lace covered chest as he fiddled with the clasp on the back until it broke free. 

Her bra fell to the way side, along with her shirt, as Daichi continued his loving ministrations on her breasts. A hand massaging one gently, and his mouth on the other. Y/N’s head fallen back in pleasure while she clung to him. He licked and teased her nipple and in the moments between switching breasts, he had to tell her just how beautiful he thought she was and how much it drove him crazy.

She seized a handful of his hair and pulled at it lightly to prompt him to return his mouth back to hers, indulging herself in further tasting the man above her. She felt his hands move down to her shorts to undo the button and zipper. So, Y/N raised her hips so that he could help her out of the offending clothing, and with the shuffle of removing fabrics, his towel fell off. 

His fully hard length pressed in to her thigh and Y/N admired what she could see before she moved her hand down for an exploratory touch. He was big. Unsurprisingly so. He always had that energy about him, but it was still incredible to see, and to feel. A small amount of precum decorated the tip of his erection which she used a lubricant to massage him.

He pressed his forehead against hers, letting sip a moan as he grinded into her touch. Excited to continue, he moved in to kiss her once more, before he trailed down, worshiping her body; alternating between nips and open mouthed kisses. He shimmied his way down to her underwear and placed a kiss to her clothed mound, unable to resist the treat presented in front of him. 

Palms on her thighs, he parted them wider. Slowly, he slipped the tips of his fingers beneath the lace and toyed with the band, lightly rubbing the skin as he looked up at her flushed face and swollen lips. Holding eye contact with her pleading expression, he teasingly snapped the elastic against her sensitive skin. He lifted one of her legs so he could kiss the inside of her thigh and then repeated the same action on the other leg. Lips parting to leave open mouthed kisses over her soft delicate skin, then traveling back up to her increasingly wet panties.

With his face in between her legs and the heat from his breath warming her, she tingled with excitement.

Pride swelling from the little noises he evoked from his exploring, which sounded like music to his ears, he pulled down her underwear. He threw them over his shoulder before diving straight in for an experimental lick, upwards and over her bundle of nerves, tasting her honey. His chocolate eyes never left the face of the woman he loved as he continued to tease and toy with her.

She threw her head back and quivered at the direct contact. Impulsively reaching out a hand to run through Daichi’s short dark hair as his heated tongue glided through her folds. 

He continued to lick at her lovingly, tasting her thoroughly before he started to focus all his attentions on her clit, where he applied more pressure. She writhed in delight and moaned in appreciation of his skilled mouth. He removed the hand that had made its way up to her breast, and positioned it just below where his mouth was working. His other hand wrapped around her thigh to hold her still. He felt her legs tense around him as he glided his fingers between her folds before inserting a single digit. He continued to move around, curling his finger to map out her favourite spot.

Upon finding it, he added another finger to her slick warmth and massaged, while he continued to work at her bud with his tongue. 

“Daichi,” she called out breathlessly from her love-drunk lips. He moved his gaze across her heaving chest and up to her flushed and blissed out face in response to her cry. “Daichi, please.” She could barely even communicate what she wanted. He grinned into his work, then pulled away and wiped his mouth on her inner leg. He left her heat for a moment to reach into one of the draws in his bedside table for a condom. 

As long as they had known each other, the topic of birth control had never come up, so he thought it better to be safe than sorry. Y/N sat up slightly and kissed along the taught skin on Daichi’s muscular neck as he rolled on the protection. When he was done he turned his head to kiss her on the mouth, letting her taste a bit of herself. 

He then gently pushed her down against the mattress and took his position between her legs once more. One arm resting to the side of her head and chest grazing her nipples, while the other arm positioned himself at her entrance. Before going any further, he looked into Y/N’s lustful eyes and whispered “I love you.” 

She was in the middle of saying it back when he moved forward to enter her slowly. Her declaration of love turned into a moan from the pleasurable intrusion of his thick and hardened manhood. His own moan melded into hers from feeling the tight warmth encapsulating him. 

To get used to the feeling of each other, he first gave a few gentle thrusts before he started to quicken his pace. He kissed down the side of her neck as she pawed at his rippling back muscles in ecstasy. 

Y/N’s mind was cloudy and all she could think of was how good he felt and how much she needed this. She needed Daichi, and he needed her. They were a perfect match and a perfect fit. 

The continuous thrusting into the spot he had mapped out previously, made Y/N arch her chest off the bed and grip the sheets tightly, allowing Daichi’s mouth easy access to her suck her nipples. Breasts sufficiently raw, he moved himself to hold Y/N’s waist up higher for a new angle; gripping her hips firmly with his calloused fingers. Their ragged breathing interrupted every so often with moans and curse words.

Daichi, not wanting to reach his peak too fast, on account of overexcitement from their long awaited sexual endeavour, he slowed down for a moment and rested his forehead against Y/N’s.

In that moment Y/N moved to flip him over onto his back, so that she was on top. She had to reposition herself and sink back down on to him before she started to move in a rhythm that pleased both of them. 

Daichi adored the view from the new position. Her face erotically striking, and her breasts bouncing with each movement. He reached forward to rub her clit with his thumb, while she continued to ride him. 

With his added teasing, Y/N started reaching her peak faster than expected. Daichi’s hands felt too good, and his cock filled her perfectly each time she slammed her body down on to him. She couldn’t help that, as the pleasure built, her movements slowed. She wanted more but her body was shutting down and shivering with pleasure. 

Noticing her near orgasm from the way her pace decelerated, and her body tensed and tightened around him, Daichi decided to take the lead and flip her back over into their original position. He took the reins and increased their speed and power. Holding her hips in place as he slammed into her with determination. Desperate to make Y/N feel as good as she makes him. To make her feel as good as she deserves. 

With the relentless fast paced pounding into her, and the hand that had snuck its way back to her clit, Y/N’s body started to convulse in pleasure and a tingling heat began spreading though her body. She had a lack of control over the noises of satisfaction that left her lips. Her muscles constricted, her legs shook and she threw her head back in a silent cry as she rode out her orgasm. If her brain was able to string together a coherent thought, it may have been something about the extreme and burning bliss that she was experiencing because of the man above her. 

Making love with someone you _truly_ love, is an incomparable experience. 

The constrictions of Y/N’s wetness around him, along with the erotic expression of her orgasm, became the trigger for Daichi to reach his own peak. He cried her name and spilled into the condom with a few final thrusts. 

As Daichi stilled, they both tried to catch their breath. He collapsed on top of her and rested his head in the crook of her neck as she wrapped her arms around him. She kissed him once on the side of his head, before she continued to steady her breathing; his body moved with the rise and fall of her chest.

A few moments passed before Daichi pulled back and withdrew himself from Y/N, holding the condom so as to avoid any leakage. He tied it up and went to reach for a tissue from the bedside table to wrap it in. He was beaten to the punch by Y/N, who had extended her own arm to reach for a tissue first. The action caused her breast to push up into Daichi’s immediate field of vision, which he couldn’t stop himself from kissing. She giggled and took the condom from his hand, before wrapping it in a tissue and throwing it a couple meters across the room, aiming at the bin by his desk. 

When she got it in with perfect aim, she winked at Daichi’s impressed expression and then pulled him in for another long but lazy kiss. 

Once out of breath, he rolled off of her and onto the side, not wanting to crush her smaller body. He pulled her over to rest on his chest, and she ran her fingers up and down, gently drawing imaginary patterns onto his skin. He hummed in approval and kissed her hair, then ran his hands through it to smooth it down. 

“I love you, Bambi,” he whispered, filled with adoration and contentment.

“I love you more.” It may have not been possible for her body to feel any more relaxed than it did in the moment before she was enveloped by sleep.

They rested in each other’s arms for a long while, before Daichi decided it was time to get them both some water. He covered Y/N with a sheet, pulled on some shorts and headed for the door. He gave one last glace at Y/N’s sleeping form, before he made his way into the kitchen.

Surprisingly, his housemates were already home and sitting at the kitchen counter. Noticing Daichi’s entrance into the room, they turned and smirked at him knowingly, obviously aware that they did the do.

“Just don’t fuck in the kitchen and were all good,” said Asahi in a faux-serious tone, surprising everyone and causing them all to burst into laughter.

Catching his breath, Suga turned back to the bench, picked something up and then waved it in Daichi’s face. “This arrived for you.” He deposited a square packaged into the hands of his half-dressed friend. “It’s from Okaasan. She had to send it over, considering you told her not to bother visiting.”

“Oh not you too!” Daichi complained.

The silver haired man raised his hands defensively and dismissed any further complaints that were surly on the tip of Daichi’s tongue. “Just open it! I want to see it.”

“Why? Did you have something to do with this?”

“Maybe,” Suga winked and covered his lips with his index finger, indicating his refusal to admit anything.

Rolling his eyes, Daichi tore open the wrapping to reveal a thick yellow envelope atop a large book. On further inspection, the book was in fact a photo album. It was square in shape and enrobed in forest green fabric. There was a window on the front where a small photo could be placed, and painted above it in gold were the words ‘Pictures of Us’.

Daichi’s lips curled up into a smile and then he thumbed through the pages, only to notice it was completely empty. Curious as to the reason for the surprise package, he opened the thick envelope. He pulled out the contents, and on top was a small note with his mother’s handwriting, ‘For your cherished memories.’ 

Beneath the note was a stack of photos that he hadn’t seen before.   
Yet he was in every one.  
He looked through the photo collection and found that the best part about this gift, was that every photo contained the love of his life and best friend, Y/N.

In that moment he heard a loud **thump** coming from behind the closed door of his bedroom. Daichi, Suga and Asahi all looked toward the door, then at each other before they shook their heads and collectively sighed, “Bambi.”

THE END!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All done!  
> This chapter turned out a lot longer than I planned! (･ω<)☆
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who has been following this story and commenting. It means so much to have support!  
> I'll start a new Oikawa fic today!  
> (♥ω♥*)
> 
> P.S. Should I make this a collection and add a story set after this one, where Bokuto finally finds love?

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear what your favourite bits are. I recently re-read this story (08.06.2020) to check for any inconsistencies before I published the last chapters and I'd love to hear which parts made you smile.  
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!  
> Thanks!  
> \- Goobergobbledoc.
> 
> P.S. This may help some of you. You can subscribe to stories to get email notifications when the stories are updated. I just recently discovered this and am so happy that I now don't have to keep checking on my fave fics. The button should be at the top of the page next to the bookmark button. I hope that helps you guys!!  
> (•ө•)♡
> 
> P.P.S. This story continues with 'Justice For Bo' and I hope you like it. It includes more of Bambi and Daichi   
> (人･㉨･)♡


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